Maya: Welcome to Guatemala News, for Sunday, October fourth, twenty twenty-six. I'm Maya.
Devon: And I'm Devon. Today: deadline day in the fight over the central bank, a big Saturday night for Xelajú, Guatemala denies any deal with Washington on joint anti-drug operations, and a major security upgrade at the country's main airport.
Maya: But first, the weather, because this is still a very wet weekend.
Maya: Guatemala's weather institute, in-see-voo-MEH, says the rainy weekend continues today, with rain most likely in the afternoon and evening, and possible lightning.
Devon: In the capital, Guatemala City, highs of twenty-six to twenty-eight degrees Celsius, that's the upper seventies Fahrenheit, with storms likely after midday. Some could turn severe, with hail and strong gusts of wind.
Maya: The heaviest rain is expected in the west, the bocacosta, the central highlands, and the valleys of the east. With the ground already saturated, there are risks of river flooding, inundations, landslides, road damage, and lahars in the volcanic chain. CONRED, the disaster agency, is on watch.
Devon: The Pacific coast stays hot, in the mid-thirties Celsius, around ninety-five Fahrenheit. So keep the umbrella handy, and watch the sky after lunch.
Maya: Now the story we've followed all week. Today is deadline day in the fight over the central bank.
Devon: On Thursday, the Constitutional Court gave President ah-REH-vah-loh's office forty-eight hours to explain why he named his former finance minister, Jonathan MEN-kohs, to run the Banco de Guatemala and the Monetary Board through September of twenty thirty.
Maya: That deadline lands today, Sunday. The court acted on two legal challenges: one from kah-SEEF, the country's main business federation, and one from congressman Allan Rodriguez. Both argue that MEN-kohs still holds an elected congressional seat, even though he is on indefinite leave, and that the central bank's own law bars its president from holding any other public office.
Devon: The presidency answers that the constitution lets a lawmaker on leave take an executive post. The government's response should now be in the court's hands, and whatever the court decides next could shake up the country's monetary leadership. We'll be watching.
Maya: Sports now, and Xelajú gave its fans a Saturday night to remember.
Devon: The chivos beat San Pedro two to nothing at home. Juan Cardona broke the deadlock just before halftime, in the forty-fifth minute, with a powerful strike from outside the box, and Steven Cárdenas doubled the lead with a header in the seventieth.
Maya: Both teams finished with ten men: San Pedro had an equalizer disallowed after review, and Kevin Illescas saw red in the eighty-sixth minute. The win lifts Xelajú to eighteen points and fifth place, level with San Pedro on points but ahead on goal difference.
Devon: And Monday is the big one for the national team: Guatemala hosts Suriname at El Trébol at six in the evening, local time, in the Nations League rematch. The first leg in Paramaribo ended scoreless, and with Suriname on seven points and Guatemala on four, it is pretty much a must-win.
Maya: Diplomacy now. Guatemala's government denies that any agreement exists with the United States for joint operations against drug trafficking, according to the Associated Press.
Devon: The denial comes as migration data shows the United States has deported more than two thousand Mexican nationals to Guatemala so far this year, a reminder of how central the migration and security agenda remains in the relationship between the two countries.
Maya: A big upgrade at La Aurora International Airport: the terminal has inaugurated a new monitoring center with five hundred seventy security cameras, aimed at tightening oversight across the country's busiest airport.
Devon: And in the east, aid agencies are sounding the alarm: UNICEF projects that at least nine million children in Central America's Dry Corridor will need humanitarian help as El Niño advances, and Guatemala sits squarely in the drought-prone zone.
Maya: One cultural note to close the week: October arrives dressed in tradition, with the Feria del Rosario of twenty twenty-six running all month long, a celebration of faith, culture, and music.
Maya: That's Guatemala News for this Sunday: stormy skies, a court deadline, and a must-win Monday. I'm Maya.
Devon: And I'm Devon. See you tomorrow.