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The "Burning of the Devil", which has its origins in colonial times, began at 6:00 p.m. local time (00:00 GMT) along with the detonation of pyrotechnics in the streets of the country to ward off evil spirits and usher in the Christmas season.

"This is a very Chapina (Guatemalan) tradition that over time has become a satire towards the current government," merchant Sergio Albizúrez told AFP in the Arrivillaga neighborhood, in a popular area in eastern Guatemala. Guatemala City, where neighbors set fire to a 5-meter-high "devil."

The red puppet, made of paper and wire, which the fire disintegrated in a matter of minutes, also wore two crutches in allusion to President Alejandro Giammattei, who uses them due to the multiple sclerosis that he has suffered since adolescence.

"Banknotes" also burned with the devil, as various sectors accuse Giammattei of corruption and "waste" of funds that should have been used to combat the covid-19 pandemic, Albizúrez said.

"On the one hand the tradition is not abandoned and on the other we are showing everyone's discomfort" due to corruption, estimated Erick Rosales, 28, an employee of a clothing factory.

Meanwhile, in the colonial city of Antigua, southwest of the capital, residents of the Concepción neighborhood burned a satan doll that they had placed inside a coffin with the phrase: "Because of so much corruption of our rulers, even the devil died."

"Burn" the devil is a tradition inherited from Spanish colonialism and, according to historians, it is done to purify the environment prior to the celebration of the Virgin of Concepción, every December 8.

The tradition is criticized by environmentalists, who consider that burning generates pollution, so many parishioners choose to set fire to devil piñatas, which in recent years have been made with the characteristics of some controversial politicians and figures from public life.

© 2021 AFP