Guatemalan ex-president Alejandro Giammattei barred from entering

Guatemalan ex-president Alejandro
Giammattei barred from entering US.

International News Desk

According to global Times news Agency Europe, Former Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has been barred from entering the US over allegations of "his  involvement in significant corruption,” the State Department said on Wednesday.The State Department has credible information indicating  that Giammattei  accepted bribes in exchange for the performance of his  public functions during his tenure  as president of  Guatemala,  actions that undermined the rule of law and government transparency,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.The former president was criticized during his tenure for not reviving a UN-backed anti-corruption watchdog terminated by his predecessor, and he repeatedly clashed with the US over efforts to curb graft. Giammattei was replaced on Monday by anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arevalo, after an uphill campaign due to what Arevalo has called an "attempted coup” by prosecutors to invalidate him. Giammattei had publicly vowed to carry out an orderly transition.The government of President Arevalo is respectful of US government decisions and the criteria it considers for the ineligibility of Guatemalan citizens,” a government spokesperson told The Global Times Europe.Arevalo was sworn in as Guatemala’s president in the early hours of Monday after a chaotic inauguration that was delayed for hours by a last-ditch attempt by opposition in Congress aiming to weaken his authority. Giammattei skipped the ceremony. The 65-year-old Arevalo has cast himself as a democracy advocate and the leader of a progressive movement bent on reshaping a political landscape long dominated by conservative parties.