Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo says he found a ‘semi-destroyed country’ on taking office

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo says he found a ‘semi-destroyed country’ on taking office

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo says opposition in the Congress and the Attorney General’s Office have made it difficult to implement the change he seeks for the Central American nation which he found “semi-destroyed” when he took office almost six months ago.

The politician from the progressive Seed Movement party was elected in August after voters angry at widespread corruption and leaders’ failure to tackle it made a decisive choice for change, elevating his long shot candidacy.

Central America’s most populous country and the region’s largest economy continues to struggle with poverty and violence that have driven hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans to migrate to the U.S.

“What has impacted me the most is seeing how corruption has impacted the executive capacity of all the country’s institutions; the levels of abandonment and dysfunctionality of the institutions are terrible,” Arévalo said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.