While Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei takes an unwavering stance in defending life in his country, the issue of abortion is in the limelight in the United States.
Faced with ongoing opposition from a global human rights group for his strong stance against abortion, Giammattei told Breitbart News his views on the matter in a Washington DC sit-down interview last Tuesday.
“The Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala stipulates that life be protected from conception,” said Giammattei. “My own Christian principles relate to both.”
Abortion is illegal in Guatemala unless the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. “I swear by the law and I have to ensure that the law is respected,” said Giammattei, who took office in January 2020.
(Matt Purdy/Breitbart News)
Giammattei’s comments came after the US Supreme Court’s decision was overturned. Rowe vs. WadeA historic achievement for the pro-life movement that brought back abortion regulation in individual U.S. states. The conservative president said that in the United States, polls show America is deeply divided on abortion, with some polls showing that the majority of Americans favor access to abortion.
“They have a problem here in the United States,” Giammattei said. This is a problem [native to] here. … These are – what’s going on here – things that I don’t interfere with. But I know what’s going on there.
“We are leading the movement in the region for our country so that abortion does not become a way of life,” the President continued.
Prior to his meeting with Breitbart News on Tuesday, Giammattei appeared at the Organization of American States (OAS) to formally protest the OAS Commission on Human Rights for the Americas (IACHR).
Guatemala is a sovereign and democratic country, therefore, at the Protocol Session of the Permanent Council @OEA_officialWe strongly declare that we have not complied with the 2021 Annual Report of the Human Rights Commission of the Americas. pic.twitter.com/DgPOYPG0t6
– Alejandro Giammattei (@DrGiammatei) 29 June 2022
The IACHR, the international court of human rights, said in its annual report from 2021 that it was “extremely concerned” about Guatemala’s “retroactive measures” on abortion.
The report states that Giammattei participated in the Geneva Accords, an initiative of the Trump administration aimed at unifying countries that abortion is not an international law. Last year, more than 30 states joined the declaration, including Guatemala. Pro-abortion President Joe Biden announced shortly after sitting down that the United States would drop the declaration.
“IACHR states that I am at the level of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba as a human rights violation because I am against abortion, the most ridiculous thing in the world,” Giammattei said, referring to three countries ruled by the notorious criminal regime.
(Matt Purdy/Breitbart News)
The President referred to article 4 of the IACHR Americas Convention, which includes the “right to life” for unborn children.
“He says life in OAS countries is protected from conception, just like our constitution! We cannot change anything. “If he wants abortion to be different, to be accepted in Guatemala, he needs to change the constitution,” said Giammattei.
Giammattei resumed the defense of life by attending the DC International Religious Freedom Summit on Wednesday, where he reiterated a comment he had made to the audience in the past that Guatemala is the “life defense capital” of Latin America.
Email Ashley Oliver at [email protected]. follow him on twitter @asholiver.
Source: Breitbart
