The Superior University Council (CSU) of the Usac was called to a session on July 1, in which appointed top officials who will accompany Walter Mazariegos during his second term. As the first point of the session, the legal team of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala (Usac) presented the argument that justifies Mazariegos in the position although he lacks a termination date.
After the presentation, by the legal director, Astrid García, Walter Mazariegos asked that a message be disseminated in which he warned that the regulations will be applied against those who question his arrival at the rectory.
“The election, the campaign, is over. Whoever continues to bother with the issue of ‘the election here and there’, the rules, laws and regulations are going to be applied, carry that message. Fans, let them go see the World Cup. The election of the rector is already over, we have already signed the act of inauguration. Whoever continues with his madness and smoking, we are going to apply the university regulations, and it is not a threat,” he warned during the virtual session, according to informed sources who requested the protection of your identity.
“The election is over, the campaign is over. Whoever continues to bother with the issue of ‘the election here and there’, the rules, laws and regulations will be applied.”
Walter Mazariegos, rector of USAC
“‘Oh, it’s persecution,’ they say, and burning and stealing the university with criminal proceedings, legal proceedings, and still wanting to go to jail again,” he said.
In this regard, lawyer Edwin Orozco pointed out that Mazariegos’ attitude is that of a dictator who seeks to retain power by force: “We already realized that they have criminalized and expelled students in a ridiculous way. We would not be surprised if Mazariegos intends to silence the voices of all opponents. […]. The information we have is that they are going to initiate proceedings against teachers and students,” he said.
Mazariegos took possession amidst protests of groups that point out illegalities in the election and that assure that there are pending judicial actions that could redirect the process.
The rector also pointed out, although without mentioning names, to the former rectors who question him about the situation at Usac: “I did not come to loot the university as some characters did in that rector’s office. Today they are millionaires and they attack the university; they are farmers and they still attack the university; they have farms, mansions, towers of buildings, they have everything, but a professor does not reach that, just by being a professor. That’s why they should stay retired, calm and “Keep quiet, and not attack the university, because they are doing it harm.”
Mazariegos presented himself as rector on July 1, after a process that faced questions about the lack of renewal of CSU membersthe lack of accreditation of all the electoral bodies that won a space to participate in the election of the rector.
The CSU operates like the USAC government and makes the most important decisions of the university, but it lacks checks and balances. According to internal information and the minutes of the Council, only six of the 41 members are opponents, who most of the time abstain from voting. However, 28 members vote consistently in line with the rector’s requests. Four councilors maintain indefinite positions and three chairs remain vacant.