GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 25, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Guatemala's attorney general,
accused by new President Bernardo Arevalo of involvement in a plot to undo
his election, snubbed a meeting with the head of state Wednesday and said she
refused to resign.

Consuelo Porras along with senior prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche and Judge
Fredy Orellana were at the forefront of judicial efforts to stop reformist
Arevalo from taking office.

All three are listed as corrupt and undemocratic by the US government, and
Arevalo had said one of his first actions as president would be to ask Porras
to resign.

Former lawmaker, diplomat and sociologist Arevalo, 65, pulled off a major
upset when he swept from obscurity to win elections last August, firing up
voters weary of graft in one of Latin America's poorest nations.

His anti-corruption crusade put him in the crosshairs of prosecutors accused
of graft and closely aligned with the country's entrenched political and
economic ruling class.

They tried to overturn the election results and strip Arevalo, who enjoys
strong support from the international community, of immunity from
prosecution.

His Semilla (Seed) party also had its registration suspended on fraud
allegations widely seen as trumped up.

Arevalo has repeatedly denounced a "slow-motion coup d'etat."

He took office on January 15 in a ceremony which had been held up for nine
hours by bickering in Congress in what was seen as part of a last-ditch
effort to stop his ascension.

On Wednesday, Porras insisted in a video posted on social media that she
fully intended to "fulfill the constitutional mandate of four years... and
consequently I will not resign."

Hours later, Arevalo said he had issued a new summons to Porras to be at a
cabinet meeting Monday, saying she is legally obligated to attend.

"There is no other option, she would be in breach of duties if she does not
attend, so we are sure that she will participate in this cabinet meeting of
ministers on Monday," Arevalo told a press conference Wednesday.

Arevalo had sent Porras a letter three days after his inauguration inviting
her to the Wednesday meeting where he was widely expected to ask her to step
down.

Porras, 70, was appointed in 2018 by then-president Jimmy Morales and to a
second four-year term by his successor Alejandro Giammattei in 2022.

In the video, Porras insisted the public prosecutor's office was an
"autonomous and independent institution" and did not answer to the
government.