Guatemala arrests former minister accused of failing to quell election protests

Guatemala arrests former minister accused of failing to quell election protests

Guatemala's former interior minister was detained on Thursday, authorities said, accused of failing to fulfill his duties after he refused to block last year's protests that called on authorities to respect the result of the presidential election.

Napoleon Barrientos, a retired military officer, was interior minister from January 2022 until his resignation in October after being pressured by the prosecutors' office and the top court to repress and disperse protesters. However, Guatemalan authorities allege that he refused to comply.

"The arrest of Mr. David Napoleon Barrientos Giron took place over the possible crimes of breach of duties and disobedience," the prosecutors' office said in a statement.

Barrientos told reporters outside the courthouse that he was feeling "calm" and believed there was an ulterior reason for his arrest.

"I could have been called to testify, so there must be a message behind all this," he said. "That was a very difficult situation, unprecedented ... with 400 blockades. It was quite complicated to unblock, let alone to use irrational force," he said.

Barrientos, after his resignation late last year, said in an interview with local radio that state institutions were there to "protect and privilege life."

Barrientos' arrest drew condemnation from the United States, with State Department official Brain Nichols in a social media post expressing his support for the former interior minister for "defending the right to peaceful protest."

Bernardo Arevalo, a congressman and former diplomat who won the elections in Guatemala in August vowing to fight corruption, will assume the presidency of the Central American country on Sunday.