Guatemalan government accuses critics of conspiring against it

Guatemalan gov’t warns of conspiracy against it

GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala’s government accused opponents Thursday of conspiring against it, and claimed they could be preparing to oust President Alvaro Colom.

In advertisements published in local newspapers, Colom’s administration says Guatemala could face a “break with institutional order equal to what they did in Honduras.”

Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a June 2009 coup.

The ads did not specifically mention a coup, or identify the purported plotters.

But the ad said “there are groups of businessmen, politicians, mafias and criminals that have joined in a common strategy” to “erode” and “wear down” the government.

Colom has faced criticism over violent crime, and an anti-poverty aid program that critics say lacks transparency.

Opposition congresswoman Nineth Montenegro of the Encounter for Guatemala party said people are fed up with the country’s problems with killings, kidnappings and drug trafficking, but ruled out the chances of a coup.

“The scenario (of a coup) is something that only the president sees,” said Montenegro. “Even if it were attempted, we wouldn’t permit it.”