US Ambassador to the OAS confirms sending a judicial observer mission to Guatemala

A judicial observation mission from the Organization of American States (OAS) will arrive in Guatemala at the end of June to be present in the process of selecting judges who must make up the country’s Supreme Court, the representative of the United States confirmed this Thursday before the regional organization, Francisco Mora.

“That mission will arrive by the end of the month and will continue doing its work there,” Ambassador Mora confirmed in an exchange with journalists via Zoom.

The Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, announced on social network X days ago the names of those who will make up the special mission to observe the process, at the request of President Bernardo Arévalo.

Rosa Celorio, Rodolfo Piza and Luis Marrey are the observers selected by the OAS, Almagro reported.

In his comment on the process that Guatemala is experiencing, Mora highlighted the role of the OAS in supporting electoral transparency in the Central American nation.

“Guatemala is a test case, an example that when we work together using the Inter-American Democratic Charter and other OAS tools, we see that the OAS played a secondary, but fundamental role for Guatemala to have fair elections,” said Mora.

After a turbulent election process for the executive branch in 2023, attention in Guatemala is now focused on the election of the judges of the judicial branch, at the level of the Supreme Court of Justice.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, Carlos Ramiro Martínez, confirmed that the purpose of the mission is to observe the election parameters in order for a process to be carried out with transparency and suitability.

Seen this way, the process consists of a list of 26 candidates being chosen through a nomination commission and sent to Congress, which has the final say in electing the 13 magistrates.

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