The following lists events in the year 2022 in Guatemala.
Incumbents
President:Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla (since 2020) Vice-President: César Guillermo Castillo Reyes (since 2020)
Events
Ongoing – COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala
January A court sentences five former paramilitary members to 30 years for the rapes and enslavement of 36 Mayan women between 1981 and 1985.
February 16 February – 2022 Guatemala earthquake: A magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes southern Guatemala, causing light damage, landslides, three deaths from heart attacks, and injuring two people.
March 8 March – Journalist Orlando Villanueva is killed in Puerto Barrios. Congress passes the Law for the Protection of Life and the Family, raising abortion penalties to 25 years, banning same-sex marriage, and restricting teaching on sexual diversity.
May 16 May – President Alejandro Giammattei reappoints Consuelo Porras as Attorney General amid a criticized selection process. On the same day, the United States sanctions her over accusations of involvement in significant corruption.
June 25 June – Guatemala Pride returns after two years, drawing over 10,000 participants and featuring embassy delegations. 29 June – Guatemala’s under-20 football team qualifies for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup after defeating Mexico on penalties in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.
July 9 July – Guatemala puts 66 of its municipalities on alert due to a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. 30 July – Armed civilians attack a checkpoint during President Giammattei’s visit to La Laguna, Huehuetenango; one person is injured, four arrested, the president is unharmed, and the official account is questioned. Journalist José Rubén Zamora, founder of El Periódico, is arrested on allegations of money laundering and blackmail; he begins a hunger strike in protest.
August 11 August – Demonstrators protest alleged government corruption outside Guatemala’s National Palace of Culture. 30 August – Foreign Minister Mario Búcaro meets with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei, affirming that Guatemala will "always support" Taiwan. China criticizes the visit as political manipulation.
September A judge acquits journalist Carlos Choc, after he was previously accused of incitement related to a 2021 Indigenous protest.
November 16 November – Prosecutors accuse President-elect Bernardo Arévalo and Vice President-elect Karin Herrera of backing university protests, and request to strip their political immunity. A judge overseeing a forced disappearance case resigns and leaves the country. UDEFEGUA then reports the government failed to implement a IACHR ruling to protect human rights defenders.
December 7 December – Former President Otto Pérez Molina and ex-Vice President Roxana Baldetti are sentenced to 16 years in prison for illicit association and customs fraud in the La Línea corruption case.
Deaths
January 6 – Rómulo Méndez, 83, football referee February 17 – Gerardo Humberto Flores Reyes, 96, Roman Catholic prelate, bishop of Verapaz (1971–2001) February 24 – Roberto Carpio, 91, politician, vice president (1986–1991) March 14 – José Ramiro Pellecer Samayoa, 92, Roman Catholic prelate, auxiliary bishop of Guatemala (1967–2010)
See also
COVID-19 pandemic in North America 2020s 2022 Atlantic hurricane season 2020s in political history
References
External links
13 young Guatemalans who left for a better future were slain in Mexico, families say (by Kate Linthicum & Jeff Abbott, January 30, 2021, Los Angeles Times