"Help, we are locked up": former Guatemalan military men forcibly enter Congress

Hundreds of veterans in Guatemala violently stormed the headquarters of Congress on Tuesday to demand the approval of a bill that grants them financial compensation for their participation in the internal armed conflict from 1960 to 1996.

Deputies who were in the compound denounced on social networks that the protesters broke windows to enter the offices,

through the parking lot of the building. 

According to the EFE news agency, there was smoke coming out of the chamber where the Legislative Branch is located.

Videos on social media show what appear to be burning vehicles in the parking lot.

"The situation is complicated, because they are holding us," said the Minister of Energy and Mines, Alberto Pimentel, to local media inside the compound, where he was for a subpoena.

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The National Civil Police, who responded to the riots in riot gear, managed to evacuate hours later more than 50 workers and congressional deputies through alternate exits.

The situation is complicated because they are holding us "

Alberto Pimentel Minister of energy and mines

More than a dozen members of Congress security were trying to stop the protesters with wooden sticks at another point of access to the site.

The ex-combatants of the internal armed conflict have demonstrated in recent days with roadblocks and, finally, this Tuesday they attacked Congress.

The initiative requested by the veterans is under analysis by the Defense, Finance and Human Rights commissions of Congress and proposes a payment of 120,000 quetzals (

) for each of the ex-military personnel or their relatives if they have already died, granted in four annual payments.

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Financial compensation to veterans was one of the campaign promises of Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei in his election campaign in 2019.

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The internal war ended on December 29, 1996 with the signing of the Peace Accords between the Government and the guerrillas composed of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit (URNG).

The armed conflict left more than 250,000 dead and missing

in the 36 years of confrontation, more than 90% at the hands of the Guatemalan Army, according to reports from international organizations.

With information from