The decision was announced by the prosecutor in charge of the Public Ministry, Rafael Curruchiche, for an alleged case of corruption within the political formation. This official has previously been accused by the United States of corruption and creating false cases against authorities within Guatemala. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal made official that Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arévalo will be the opponents in the presidential runoff on August 20, but this decision leaves the future of the progressive candidate’s candidacy up in the air.
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The Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office) of Guatemala reported this Wednesday that it requested the suspension of the legal personality of the Semilla party for an alleged case of corruption, and it was endorsed by a criminal judge of the Judicial Branch of the Central American country.
The prosecutor of the Public Ministry of Guatemala, Rafael Curruchiche, sanctioned by the United States in 2022 on charges of creating false cases against ex-authorities, detailed this Wednesday afternoon through a message released by the entity.
Curruchiche indicated that the decision is due to a case called “Seed Corruption”, due to alleged false signatures, and leaves in the air the candidacy of Bernardo Arévalo de León, who advanced to the second presidential round in the elections on June 25.
An unprecedented judicial decision
The decision of the Public Ministry is unprecedented in Guatemala, since according to local and international sectors had warned in recent weeks, the courts and Justice should not interfere in the results of the polls.
“The Seventh Criminal Instance Court ordered the suspension of the legal personality of the Semilla political party,” Curruchiche said in the message through the official channels of the Public Ministry, without mentioning the future of the elections.
The Prosecutor’s Office accuses Semilla of alleged illegal electoral financing and the use of false signatures.
Arévalo de León had managed to advance to the runoff after surprisingly obtaining second place in the elections on June 25, behind former first lady Sandra Torres.
The officialization of the results was pending after the Constitutional Court, the highest court of the Central American country, ordered a new review of the electoral records on July 1, which took place from July 4 to 6.
This is not for us or for Semilla, it is for the whole country. The powerful no longer want the people to freely decide their future, but we are going to defeat them.
The seed of change and hope will not be trampled. ?#GuatemalaIsSeed
— Bernardo Arévalo de León ? (@BArevalodeLeon) July 13, 2023
An electoral process marked by suspensions
The Guatemalan electoral process was widely marked prior to the elections by the suspension of three candidacies with the possibility of winning the presidential elections.
The announcement of the suspension of Semilla came as the Supreme Electoral Tribunal confirmed that the candidates for the second round were Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arévalo after two weeks of uncertainty after several candidates denounced “irregularities” in the polls.
Arévalo de León had already warned in recent days that the “corrupt pact” that has “co-opted” the State would try to block his arrival at the presidency.
In Guatemala, a group of politicians, soldiers, businessmen and people linked to drug trafficking who have parasitized most of the State institutions since they achieved the expulsion in 2019 of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, is called a “corrupt pact”. Guatemala (Cicig), a UN entity that dismantled more than 200 corruption structures.
with EFE
