Guatemala's president-elect announces his Cabinet ahead of swearing-in

Guatemala’s President-elect Bernardo Arévalo has announced his Cabinet picks ahead of his scheduled swearing-in Sunday, despite ongoing investigations of his political party

GUATEMALA CITY -- Guatemala’s President-elect Bernardo Arévalo announced his Cabinet picks Monday ahead of his scheduled swearing-in Sunday, despite ongoing investigations of his political party.

The progressive president-elect chose an even number of female and male Cabinet members for the first time in Guatemala’s history and looked outside his relatively young Seed Movement party to staff some of the country’s most important positions.

Arévalo was the surprise winner of last year’s election, campaigning to tackle Guatemala’s deep-rooted corruption.

He said his picks were honorable people and he promised to create an autonomous anti-corruption commission to analyze his administration’s work.

Arévalo chose Francisco Jiménez Irungaray as his interior minister. Jiménez served former President Álvaro Colóm briefly in the same position and was cited by a United Nations anti-corruption mission for alleged involvement in the improper awarding of a government contract.