King Juan Carlos, in Buenos Aires with Mauricio Macri./ Photo: Royal Household
The Diplomat. Madrid
King Juan Carlos will be in charge of representing Spain in the investiture of Guatemala’s new president, Jimmy Morales, which will take place on 14 January, according to information provided to The Diplomat by governmental sources.
Morales, of National Convergence Front, will become the tenth president of Guatemala’s democratic era, after getting 70 % of the votes in the election held in October, after the former head of State, Otto Pérez Molina, resigned his post as a consequence of the corruption accusations against him.
The designation of King Juan Carlos as Spain’s representative in Morales’s investiture will be approved today by the Cabinet.
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The emeritus monarch will represent Spain in Jimmy Morales’s investiture
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This is not the first time that the emeritus monarch attends the investiture of a president in Latin America, something that, until his abdication, in June 2014, used to be done by his son, the then Prince of Asturias and current King Felipe VI.
The last time King Juan Carlos was present in this type of ceremonies was on 10 December, when he attended, in Buenos Aires, the investiture of Argentina’s President, Mauricio Macri. He had previously attended the investitures of Colombia’s President, Juan Manuel Santos, and Uruguay’s President, Tabaré Vázquez.
King Juan Carlos is especially close to Latin America and, while he was on the throne, he made numerous bilateral visits and participated in all the Ibero-American Summits since its creation in 1991.
