Photo: Reuters
By: Inez Jaime On Feb 27, 2020, Guatemala's President Alejandro Gimmatteti had signed a new law that now increases government oversight of non-profit groups as operations in the Central American country. The Congress had passed the bill on February 12, with support from the ruling party and other conservatives that want the bill passed through. A senior official by the name of Michael Kozak, known as a senior official for the U.S State Department's Bureau of Western Hemispheres Affairs, stated that “the bill was as putting onerous requirements on the NGOs in Guatemala.” They have been putting a lot of hard work into this bill. NGOs are the groups in Guatemala that support the democratic sides. The groups would be playing big roles in functioning democracies, meaning that they would be able to run the big parts as in functioning the democratic side. He later had called on the country to look at the bill and see what the international standards were going to be for this law to be passed. Many urged the president to veto the bill, which linked the legislation to rules passed in Russia and Venezuela. The bill was made to “limit freedom of assembly, and efforts to improve democratic governance, also potentially contributing to the increased migration to the U.S”. This law had also required the “NGOs” to register to also donate funds, and allow their accounts to be inspected and searched. Under these rules, several government powers can have the authority to cancel their registration if they fail to follow the order. The Guatemalan President declared that he would not bow to foreign pressure.
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