Tensions high outside Guatemala Congress as inauguration sessions delayed

Demonstrators were threatening to storm Guatemala's Congress on Sunday as a session to swear in newly elected lawmakers was delayed, casting doubt that President-elect Bernardo Arevalo's planned inauguration will go smoothly later in the day.

Tensions were high among indigenous groups and other supporters of Arevalo as the session for new Congress members to assume power, including for his Semilla party, was delayed for hours. Guatemala's top court earlier on Sunday decided that lawmakers from Arevalo's party will not take office affiliated with Semilla but as independents, a move that blocks them from joining Congress' board of directors and weakens the new president's ability to wield power.

It was not clear if the delayed session would impact Arevalo's inauguration. Vowing to restore democracy and banish deep-rooted corruption in Guatemala, the most populous country in Central America with 17.1 million people, Arevalo, 65, won the August presidential run-off in a sweeping victory.

In the months after, Guatamala's attorney general - seen as an ally of outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei - has intensified attempts to discredit Arevalo's victory and hinder his transition. The attorney general has tried to strip Arevalo and his Vice President-elect Karin Herrera of legal immunity, suspend his Semilla party and annul the election. The "coup" attempt, as Arevalo terms it, has drawn tens of thousands of Guatemalans to the streets and the international community, including the United States, has piled vast pressure on Giammattei's administration to proceed with the transition of power.

The events leading up to Arevalo's inauguration underscore Guatemala's fragile rule of law, with the country pushed to the brink of a governance crisis that could limit his ability to rule and keep campaign pledges to root out bad political actors, fight organized crime and create new jobs. Despite its overwhelming victory in the presidential elections, Semilla - a social democratic, environmentalist and progressive party - barely achieved 23 of the 160 seats in the legislature.

That makes Arevalo more vulnerable to ongoing political attacks, experts said. "Actions to criminalize Arevalo and other members of the party could continue," said Ana Maria Mendez, Central America director of the Washington Office on Latin American Affairs (WOLA), a rights group.

The attorney general's office has denied that it is attempting a coup and defended its actions as within the framework of Guatemala's laws MIGRATION, POVERTY, CHINA & TAIWAN

Arevalo, a career diplomat, sociologist and son of former President Juan Jose Arevalo, will grapple with a country with half its population living in poverty, rising costs of living and violence that is a main driver of Central American migrants to the United States. His government will likely be "transitional" since poverty, economic and social rights are structural issues difficult to change in four years, analysts said.

The government of Arevalo and Herrera will have to carefully balance demands by the United States to stem migration amid record-high remittances that keep the local economy afloat. After winning the presidency, Arevalo said he would expand relations with China, which could imply a change in policy for Guatemala's diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a move that could anger the United States. Arevalo, however, has denied that a closer relationship with China means breaking ties with Taiwan. China considers Taiwan a breakaway province.

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