“Congress allocated more money for their meals and didn’t allocate money to the poor people,” said Diego Herrera, 25, a student. While most protesters assembled peacefully at the main square, others smashed the windows of the Congress building and set fire to the interior, sending columns of orange flames rippling out, social media and Reuters images show. A spokeswoman for San Juan de Dios General Hospital, one of the capital’s biggest hospitals, said it was treating 14 people for multiple injuries and tear gas poisoning, after clashes with police in riot gear who used tear gas to disperse the crowds. Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International, urged investigations into the detentions, which social media videos showed as violent. “Multiple complaints of mistreatment, excessive use of force, indiscriminate use of tear gas by the Guatemalan police,” she wrote on Twitter.

Source: bd News24 November 22, 2020 04:18 UTC