Since Bernardo Arévalo became president of Guatemala, he has sought, in accordance with the obligations of his position, dismiss the attorney general of that country Consuelo Porras, whom he accuses of leading an alleged network of corruption entrenched in the Guatemalan State.
To achieve this, he has carried out several actions since assuming the presidency, among them, asking Porras for reports on his actions at the head of the institution that investigates the crime, and recently he has attempted to change the law to be able to remove her without further impediment.
Currently, Guatemalan legislation establishes that Arévalo de León can dismiss Porras as long as she has been convicted of a crime, and the conviction is final, that is, without pending procedures. Another way is for Congress to give the key to Arévalo so that, through a reforms to the Organic Law of the Prosecutor’s Office, can dismiss the prosecutor.
Porras, who has been accused of corruption by the United States, the European Union and Canada, fights for the autonomy of the Prosecutor’s Office and denies covering up cases of corruption or being behind the persecution of dozens of prosecutors, judges and journalists who are currently in the trial. exile.
“A foolish minority survives, entrenched in co-opted institutions that abuse power to blackmail, extort and punish those who joined the transformation effort. This is possible due to the permanence of Consuelo Porras in the Public Ministry,” Arévalo said on the 5th. May, after taking a proposal to the Congress of that country with which he hopes to obtain the power to remove Porras.
But obtaining the 107 votes established by Guatemalan law to approve this reform seems far from being achieved: since Arévalo presented the proposal, the unicameral Congress has not gathered sufficient quorum to vote on it. The absence of the deputies has even prevented the initiative from being discussed in a working committee.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court of that country has stopped Arévalo’s intentions by giving provisional protection to the head of the Prosecutor’s Office, and also ordered the president to “refrain from any act that, outside the entire constitutional framework and legal, violates Porras’ mandate.
Porras called those undertaken by Arévalo “spurious, malicious and undemocratic actions”, and recently said that these attempts only denote “an enormous lack of knowledge of the law.” He called on the president to address the needs that afflict Guatemalan society, including health and safety.
How did the conflict start?
The conflict between both officials dates back to the time when Arévalo was a presidential candidate, in 2023.
For many it was a surprise that the Semilla Movement, the political party with which Arévalo competed for the presidency of Guatemala, ended up winning the elections.
Arévalo was not even among the first five candidates with greater voting preference. However, a large part of Guatemalans approved his political project, which was mainly focused on eradicating corruption.
Since the results that gave Arévalo the advantage became known, Porras presented two petitions to withdraw his immunity as a candidate, and thus prosecute him for the crimes of aggravated usurpation, depredation of cultural property and sedition.
Furthermore, the Prosecutor’s Office accused his party, the Semilla Movement, of having been formed with alleged fake signatures four years agoa case that led to the cancellation of legal status.
Already as president, Arévalo has sought to remove the official, accusing her of “breach of duties” and asking that her immunity from criminal investigation be withdrawn. Since his first attempt has not been successful, he is now seeking Congress to support him in impeachment.
Samuel Pérez Álvarez, who was president of Semilla and is now an independent deputy after the cancellation of the party’s legal status, told local media that the deputies must “reflect on whether or not they agree with an initiative that favors the people.” of Guatemala or if they are going to position themselves on the side of the coup.”
The ruling party, Movimiento Semilla, has 23 of 160 deputies. However, they have reached up to 92 with allied political groups.
Before Porras, Attorney General Thelma Aldana, who is in exile, promoted eliminating the power that the president had over the attorney general of the Public Ministry. It is on that disposition that the armor that Porras’ position now has rests.
“We see that the law is well tied, they made it for Thelma Aldana. Now we have to carry out a reform thinking about the new prosecutor and stop believing in a future that a correct person can reach the Public Ministry. (…) The political situations are complicated. “Sometimes we can make necessary legal reforms and sometimes we cannot,” said lawyer and former candidate for attorney general Ilse Álvarez, in an interview with local media Emisoras Unidas.
Porras has been at the head of the Public Ministry since 2018, and his mandate was extended until 2026 by previous president Alejandro Giammattei.
In April of this year, Arévalo did not rule out using the public consultation mechanism to remove the prosecutor, in the event that none of the previous maneuvers progressed.
Popular consultations in Guatemala are coordinated by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and the last one that took place was in 2018, when Guatemala had a territorial dispute with Belize.
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