Inauguration of Guatemala's new president culminates a period of high …

Members of Congress argue during the session to elect the governing board, or junta directiva, before the inauguration ceremony of Guatemala's President-elect Bernardo Arévalo in Guatemala City on 14 January 2024. (María José Bonilla/AFP via Getty Images)

Transfer of power

The inauguration of Guatemala's President Bernardo Arévalo on 14 January culminated a drawn-out electoral process marked by social and political instability. The inauguration took place in a context of uncertainty and tension over the possibility that the transfer of power would not take place after a complex electoral period.

According to Guatemala's constitution, the inauguration had to be held no later than 1600 h local time on 14 January. In the end, Arévalo was sworn in eight hours after this deadline had passed. The delay was attributed by the new members of Congress, allied to Arévalo, to the outgoing Congress' intention to hinder the transfer of legislative and executive powers. For a new president to be sworn in, the members of the new Congress must first be sworn in, then the new Congress must establish the new governing board, or junta directiva, which is responsible for conducting the handover of power so that the new president can be sworn in. Delays in each of these steps resulted in the delay to Arévalo being sworn in.

The chain of delays preceding the inauguration occurred as follows:

During the eight-hour delay, demonstrations led by Arévalo supporters took place outside Congress. Meanwhile, the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, in an