Central America Remembers 200-Year-Independence with Protests

On Wednesday, September 15, Central American republics from Guatemala to Costa Rica, remember that 200 years ago they gained independence from the Spanish Empire, but they do so amid anti-government protests and demands in favor of indigenous peoples.

In Guatemala, one of the epicenters of the outbreak of independence in the region in the 19th century, Mayan authorities and citizen groups gathered in the Plaza de la Constitución to protest against the celebration of the Bicentennial, while inside the National Palace of Culture the commemorative ceremonies were held with the participation of President Alejandro Giammattei.

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The demonstrators claimed they had nothing to celebrate, because when the Central American Creoles achieved independence it was not for the good of the native peoples and these 200 years have been, they denounced, of plundering and dispossesion.

The demonstrators added that in the Plaza de la Constitución  the 22 departments that symbolize native peoples and the Guatemalan population in general, who struggle to get by day by day, were represented.

"Guatemalan communities reject the celebration of the so-called "Bicentennial Independence", peasants and rural women demand respect for their territories."

Meanwhile, to the west, in El Salvador, the day was used to demand from the government of Nayib Bukele the restitution of the rule of law in the country and the defense of democracy in mobilizations throughout the smallest of the countries born after the independence process.

Among the causes of the protests, the demonstrators cite the entry into force of the Bitcoin law, the endorsement of the Constitutional Chamber to the possibility of Bukele's immediate presidential reelection and the reform of the Judicial Career Law, measures that have generated rejection through El Salvador's civil society.

In common, the demonstrations in Guatemala and El Salvador, have the slogan that, on this anniversary, there is nothing to celebrate for the Central American peoples.