“We are faced with a number of options to move forward, but we are certain that the only one to be discarded is to go back,” stressed Arévalo at the Plaza de la Constitución, addressing foreign diplomatic representatives, government authorities and guests.

As he spoke during the first official gathering of the Indpendence celebrations, lasting through September 15th, Arévalo warned that “difficult decisions are lying ahead, as we will strive to achieve a thorough overhaul of the Guatemalan Justice system”.

“(Such a process) can either guarantee the rights and freedoms of each and every Guatemalan, or, as it happened in the past, choose to repress them, censor them and protect the interests of a corrupt minority”, said the 65-year-old politician.

In his words, it is up to each Guatemalan to act along freedom. “Lying on our shoulders as a society rests the heavy responsibility of starting a virtuous cycle of justice, progress and prosperity.”

“Malnutrition, poverty, illness, ignorance are impediments to the exercise of our freedom, they are chains that bind us to darkness and keep us in the past,” the president said.

Expounding on administration’s agenda, me mentioned plans to render electric power more accessible to all households, as well as clean water, a functional health system, and decent and safe schools for children.

Guatemala shares the commemoration with neighbors Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

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