LatinNews Daily Report - 02 December 2013

POLITICS | New head of congress. On 30 November Guatemala’s 158-member unicameral congress elected Arístides Crespo, bench leader of the ruling Partido Patriota (PP), as the congress president for the 2014-2015 session. Crespo, who will take over on 14 January when congress resumes sessions, will face an uphill battle given the permanent impasse in the legislature – where the PP has just 57 seats. Activity has been held up by opposition efforts to summon various ministers for questioning – a mechanism that the executive complains is being exploited to derail the legislative agenda. The main target of these efforts has been Culture Minister Carlos Batzín, who was first summoned by the opposition Libertad Democrática Renovada (Líder) bench in November 2012 for questioning over alleged anomalies in the purchase of uniforms and service contracts, among other things. The congress failed to meet the 30 November deadline for approval of the 2014 draft budget (for Q$70.6bn [US$8.9bn]), meaning that this year's budget (for Q$66.98bn [US$8.41bn]) will be rolled over. This could place a strain on the official government efforts to boost spending on sectors like education, which was due to receive an allocation of Q$12.32bn (US$1.56bn) in the 2014 budget, up from Q$10.74bn (US$1.36bn) in 2013.

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