Sept. 14 (UPI) — Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo accused local politicians of working with drug traffickers, gangs and organized crime to finance fuel-price protests that turned violent last week, saying criminal groups sought to exploit public anger to destabilize his government.
Arévalo made the allegations in a televised address Sunday night after days of roadblocks over rising gasoline and diesel prices disrupted highways across the country and led to violent confrontations with security forces.
The president blamed the price increases largely on an international energy crisis driven by the conflict in the Middle East, saying oil prices had risen to levels not seen in decades.
Diesel averaged about $6.05 per gallon in self-service stations in the Guatemala City metropolitan area Sept. 7, up from $5.83 a week earlier. Regular gasoline rose to to $5.34 per gallon from $5.04 and premium gasoline from to $5.62 from $5.30, according to Guatemala’s Energy and Mines Ministry.
Congress responded by approving maximum consumer prices of about $5.09 per gallon for diesel and regular gasoline and $5.35 for premium gasoline.
Arévalo said political and criminal groups then exploited legitimate anger to organize roadblocks and provoke violence.
He said local politicians in Río Hondo had colluded with drug trafficking groups to pay people to participate in blockades. In Cuyotenango and Villa Nueva, he accused political actors, gangs and organized crime groups of joining forces to organize roadblocks.
Both Cuyotenango, on a major highway in southwestern Guatemala, and Villa Nueva, just south of Guatemala City on the main route to the Pacific coast, saw violent confrontations as security forces moved to clear blockades Friday.
Arévalo did not identify the politicians or criminal groups he accused, nor did he provide evidence to support the allegations.
His accusations went further than statements made Friday by Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda according to local media, who said authorities were investigating whether politicians, public officials and criminal groups were financing or organizing some of the protests but did not yet have sufficient evidence to establish those links.
“I find it difficult to offer an opinion without concrete evidence because that would be speculation,” Villeda said. “I don’t speculate. I act when I have concrete evidence in hand.”.
Villeda said any evidence implicating public officials would be turned over to prosecutors for possible criminal proceedings or requests to strip officials of immunity, Diario La Prensa reported.
Villeda said Saturday that security forces ultimately cleared 34 blockade points nationwide.
Two police officers were shot while security forces cleared the Cuyotenango blockade, according to the Interior Ministry. In Villa Nueva, protesters and riot police clashed along the main Pacific highway, where protesters threw objects at officers and burned a police motorcycle before police used tear gas to clear the road.
Police separately alleged late Friday that gangs and organized crime groups were using women, children and older adults as “human shields” at conflict points in Villa Nueva and Zacapa.
The National Civil Police said it requested the intervention of child-protection and human-rights authorities after what it described as the deliberate use of vulnerable people to deter security forces.
Arévalo said the events showed that some of the protests had moved beyond public opposition to higher fuel prices.
“The spurious electoral interests of some and the criminal interests of others converge in these cases in an attempt to destabilize the country,” he said.
