21-05-2015: Latin American Weekly Report

On 17 May some 60,000 people (on local press reports) participated in protests across the country organised by the civil society movement #RenunciaYa (Resign Now) – which has emerged in the wake of the SAT scandal. Demonstrations took place in Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala’s second city; the tourist city of Antigua; and the departmental capitals of Jalapa, San Marcos, Quiché, Chiquimula and Cobán. These protests saw wider turnout than those held at the end of last month which local commentators described as “unprecedented” since the 1996 Peace Accords ending the 36-year civil war, and played a part in Baldetti’s decision to step down.