Latin American Weekly Report

26/11/2020 - Budget proves incendiary for Guatemala’s Giammattei

Unprecedented scenes of protesters setting Guatemala’s congress alight captured media attention over the weekend amid the biggest anti-government protests to face President Alejandro Giammattei since he took office in January. The protests were sparked by the congressional approval of a record budget for 2021 which not only failed to address key priorities for the country, currently reeling from the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and hurricanes Eta and Iota, but also awarded generous increases to portfolios not known for spending transparency. Giammattei and congress, one of Guatemala’s least trusted institutions, have since announced plans to withdraw the budget. But this gesture has yet to dampen the unrest, with public indignation over the government’s poor handling of the pandemic and efforts to weaken the fight against corruption compounded by allegations of excessive force used by police on protesters.

Download the full briefing to read on...

Access to the full Latin American Weekly Report is one of the benefits of a Canning House Corporate Membership.


Canning House Individual Members receive LatinWeek with their weekly newsletter.

Learn more and become a member today.

More recent briefings & intelligence

Becoming a member at Canning House

By joining as an individual member you’ll have the opportunity to access our wide range of public events at a discounted rate, as well as additional benefits such as online access to in-depth reports, webinar recordings and This Week in Latin America news articles.

Join now

Find out more about our membership plans

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest information on upcoming Canning House events and other events related to Latin America and Iberia across the UK and beyond.