UN chief Antonio Guterres expresses concern over crisis in Guatemala

First modification: 07/23/2023 – 09:27

1 minute

After the first round on June 25, the campaign for the second round has been clouded by various judicial appeals from right-wing parties that lost and the controversial disqualification, later annulled, of the Seed party of the social democratic candidate Bernardo Arévalo that will compete in the runoff.

Semilla’s suspension was ordered by judge Fredy Orellana at the request of prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, who alleges alleged irregularities in the registration of the party in 2017.

The Prosecutor’s Office carried out two raids on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) because the Citizen Registry (electoral register) said that by law no political organization can be suspended in the middle of an electoral process. The Prosecutor’s Office also requested the capture of the interim manager of the Registry.

In addition, the Constitutional Court (CC), the country’s highest judicial instance, in a provisional amparo in favor of Arévalo stopped the disqualification of the party. However, on Friday, prosecutors following the investigations searched Semilla’s headquarters in the capital.

For its part, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala said this Saturday that the presidential run-off on August 20 is guaranteed by rejecting a request for amparo from the electoral court that feared “threats” to the process, the judicial body reported.

The CC, the country’s highest legal entity, rejected the protection of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) considering that the ballot was already secured from a resolution of July 13 where it stated that it “cannot be affected” by the actions of any institution.