By Álvaro Gálvez Mis
“For a long time we were denied expression, they tried to bury democracy, we were persecuted and many of our companions were murdered; but that nightmare has ended when we returned to our home,” said the new president of Guatemala, Mr. Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, when giving his official speech after having been sworn in as president of the country, by the board of directors of the Congress of the Republic. The vice president, Mr. Roberto Carpio Nicolle, was also sworn in.
Cerezo Arévalo called for the unity of all Guatemalans, and expressed that the task will be quite difficult, because the Nation’s coffers are empty and the social and economic crisis is in an acute situation.
The solemn ceremony, scheduled for 11 a.m., began shortly after noon, in the Grand National Theater, which was made small to accommodate the large audience invited to witness the historic event.
Among the guests of honor were the vice president of the United States, George Bush; presidents Belisario Betancur, of Colombia; Érick Arturo Delvalle, from Panama; Commander Daniel Ortega Saavedra, from Nicaragua; engineer José Napoleón Duarte, from El Salvador.
The now former Head of State, General Óscar Humberto Mejía Víctores, stressed that since he took command, on August 8, 1983, he committed to returning the country to the democratic path. “Guatemala had lost its international prestige due to previous wrong policies.”
Constitution governs
Since yesterday, at 11:25 a.m., the new Constitution has been in force in Guatemala, one of the three fundamental laws drafted by the National Constituent Assembly that, elected in July 1984, was dissolved yesterday, within the acts prior to the inauguration of Mr. Vinicio Cerezo as the new president.
The constituents also drafted the Law of Protection, Personal Exposure and Constitutionality, as well as the new Electoral and Political Parties Law. In this way, citizens already enjoy the fundamental rights contained in the new Magna Carta.
First term
“The restoration and reconstitution of our most sacred values is the task in which I am committed, as a fair tribute to those who have placed their trust in our project, and as a tribute to all those civil and military martyrs who have offered their lives so that our beloved Guatemala finds the path to peace,” said deputy Alfonso Cabrera Hidalgo, of the Guatemalan Christian Democracy, after taking possession of the presidency of the Congress of the Republic, just after the swearing-in of the hundred elected deputies.
write the story
This note is part of the commemorative series of our diamond wedding, it is a tour of news that marked the history of Guatemala, with original texts and images from each era, as a reliable testimony of our mission of service.