Church Joins Call for Guatemala Chief to Quit

The Roman Catholic Church on Monday joined a growing clamor aimed at forcing President Jorge Serrano to resign so that constitutional rule can be restored in Guatemala.

Archbishop Prospero Penados del Barrio, Catholic primate for Guatemala, said that Serrano must resign. “There is no government, only anti-government,” he declared.

In addition, the country’s top business people increased their pressure on the president, who seized absolute power last week in what he described as a campaign against corruption.

Prominent citizens, journalists and others marched on the Presidential Palace on Monday, while international bodies hinted of possible sanctions to come.

Secretary General Joao Baena Soares of the Organization of American States, ending a three-day mission to Guatemala, urged “the return to democracy in the short term.” The OAS is reported to be considering sanctions and possibly the expulsion of Guatemala if Serrano does not back down.

The most powerful sectors in Guatemala are the army and the business elite. On Sunday, the first public signs emerged that the military was beginning to withdraw its support of the president. And on Monday, the business community hardened its position, demanding that constitutional law and order be restored before economic chaos results.

“We demand that the government immediately attend to the feelings of all social sectors and the international community and re-establish the rule of law,” said Juan Mauricio Wurmser, spokesman for an influential umbrella organization embracing all major business and agricultural entrepreneurs.

Even Serrano’s ability to enforce the censorship that he has imposed seemed to be crumbling Monday.

Dozens of Guatemalan journalists rallied outside the Presidential Palace, demanding that Serrano step down. They marched to the offices of the newspaper La Hora and stared down police sent to prevent the paper from circulating.

The police looked on as journalists snatched copies of the paper and distributed them to passing motorists and pedestrians. Ineffective, the police withdrew.

Opposition leaders, dressed in mourning clothes and carrying a wreath, staged a mock funeral for the constitution, marching first to the shuttered Congress and then to Serrano’s residence.

Serrano went on national radio Monday evening to deny that the military had withdrawn its support and insisted a “political solution” to the crisis would be found.

Monday would have been Constitution Day, marking the eighth anniversary of Guatemala’s current constitution.

“The ex-president has darkened the constitution with total denigration,” said Carlos Gonzalez, one of the charter’s authors, who joined in the march. Like many of Serrano’s foes, he referred to Serrano as “ex-president.”