Guatemala: Congress on fire after protesters storm building

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3 hours ago

media caption Flames rose from the building's large windows

Hundreds of anti-government protesters in Guatemala have vandalised and set fire to parts of the Congress building, before being dispersed by riot police.

The building in Guatemala City was empty at the time of the attack, which lasted for about 10 minutes.

The fire services have managed to put the fire out but the extent of the damage is not yet known.

The protesters are opposed to a budget which was approved by Congress on Wednesday night.

image copyright Getty Images

image caption An office inside the building went up in flames

They also want President Alejandro Giammattei to resign.

The opposition says the budget prioritises big infrastructure projects to be handled by companies with government connections and overlooks the social and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country has also recently been hit by two damaging storms, Eta and Iota.

On Friday, Vice-President Guillermo Castillo expressed his opposition to the budget and said that both he and Mr Giammattei should step down "for the good of the country".

media caption "We have nothing... I am in pain" – Central America is counting the cost of Storm Eta

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from Via PakapNews