Impeachment is an English word that in Spanish translates as “impeachment process”. The word originally, in Middle English, was empēchement which means “hindrance” or “impediment”. This is a legal tool that is present in some countries that have a presidential democratic figure.
The impeachment can be made effective to evaluate the responsibility that a president or some other high official of a country has had in his position. Generally, the accusation of lack of responsibility is made before parliament or congress.
Depending on the constitution of each country, impeachment can have merely political or political and judicial effects. This means that in some places a senior official found guilty could be jailed, have a political veto, or both.
Impeachment in Latin America
The figure of impeachment is present throughout Latin America. The governments of that part of the American continent have founded their bases on Anglo-Saxon customs and on residency trials of Indian law. For this reason, the constitutional tool is widely accepted in these countries.
There are various names that impeachment receives for the governments of Latin America. In some countries it is called “motion of censure”, in others “removal procedure”, some more call it “lawlessness trial”, “challenge”, “constitutional accusation”, among others.
The impeachment can have some variants, both judicial and political, depending on each national constitution.
Impeachment or amendment 25
In the United States there are two different ways to remove a president. The first one is the impeachment that is made effective to find a possible dismissal of a president. The second, for its part, is amendment number 25 of the constitution that makes it possible to transfer power from a president to a vice president.
The two figures, the impeachment and the 25th amendment, can become extensive processes and not have the results expected by the citizens, politicians and people who are promoting it.
The impeachment of Donald Trump
Donald Trump has always been a controversial president. In 2019 the figure of impeachment was applied to the president, but it was revoked by the Senate. After this, both the citizens and different political figures in the country wanted and sought his removal, but it was not effective.
The impeachment against Donald Trump regained strength in the first days of 2021. Many sectors of the country protested his various “abuses of the constitution and democracy.”