Guatemala Protests: Hackers Attack Government Websites in Support of Pro-Democracy Protesters

The pro-democracy protests in Guatemala continue as the government continues to make it difficult for President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo to transition. This time, however, hackers have gotten involved.

Despite the government and state-run media painting the protesters in a bad light, these hackers sided with the pro-democracy demonstrators and hacked several government websites, which Guatemalan authorities described as a national security incident.

The hackers come from the infamous group Anonymous. The group disabled several government websites, and this happened after they announced their plans to attack X (formerly Twitter), saying, "This October 14 #Anonymous will attack the Government of Guatemala, but this time we do not come alone."

The government websites were flooded with automated traffic until they crashed using a technique known as distributed denial-of-service or DDOS. The Guatemalan government has since vowed to respond to these attacks and has labeled it a matter of "national security."

The hackers attacked after the 13th day of protests all over Guatemala. These protests have been led by Indigenous people who are demanding the resignations of Attorney General Consuelo Porras, prosecutors Rafael Curruchiche and Cinthia Monterroso, as well as Judge Fredy Orellana.

Porras, Curruchiche, and Orellana have all been listed under a US corruption watchlist and are also the ones leading the investigations into Bernardo Arevalo and making his transition more complicated. Under these investigations, police have raided the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the offices of Arevalo's Seed Movement Party to look for proof of election fraud. International observers and experts are saying that these actions are forms of intimidation and have been deemed undemocratic.

A member of Anonymous spoke with the Associated Press and stated, "Everything we do is to support humanity and, now in Guatemala, in support of the people who are in the streets, fighting against corruption and impunity."

Guatemala President Stands by Embattled Attorney General Amid Protests

Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei did not run for re-election as he was deeply unpopular. With him on his way out and promising a smooth transition, the protesters have largely targeted AG Porras who is leading the investigations into the election and the Seed Movement party.

According to Reuters, Giammattei reiterated his calls to lift the roadblocks and admitted he could not remove Porras as attorney general. As for Porras, she stated that she would not step down.

Guatemala Protesters Standing Firm

Meanwhile, the protesters themselves are not letting up regarding their demands for democracy and the resignation of Porras and others. Thousands of them have stayed resolute and are not showing signs of backing down as Giammattei called for their roadblocks to be lifted.

The protests began on October 2 and are still going strong. While police have managed to take down several roadblocks, others are still standing as police have repeatedly failed to take them down.

As El Pais noted, Bernardo Arevalo says that ending the protests is in the president's hands as he is the only person who can make Porras resign.

"He is making a very clear attempt to evade his responsibility in this situation, as a result of the assault by a state institution, the Public Ministry, against the Electoral Court," he stated, adding that only Giammattei can "can ask for the resignation of the person he appointed to that position, which is Consuelo Porras."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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