April 23, 2025
Trending News

Crisis in Guatemala: judge suspends Semill’s game, but court gives her a pass to the second round

  • July 13, 2023
  • 0

The Guatemalan State Ministry said a court had authorized the suspension of the Semilla party’s legal personality in connection with an alleged corruption case. Guatemalan State Ministry prosecutor

The Guatemalan State Ministry said a court had authorized the suspension of the Semilla party’s legal personality in connection with an alleged corruption case.

Guatemalan State Ministry prosecutor Rafael Curruchee, who is under US sanctions in 2022 for creating false cases against former authorities, said the ruling was linked to a case called Seed Corruption for alleged fake signatures.

However, a few minutes later, the country’s Higher Electoral Tribunal confirmed that the Semilla Party and the National Unity of Hope were the parties that were going to the second round of elections, which would determine the president.

Judge Irma Palencia said they were unaware of the prosecutor’s request. At a press conference, he declined to comment further on the matter, saying that he did not know anything about the prosecutor’s request and that the case could be in his hands, so he could not anticipate it.

The question leaves in the air the candidacy of Bernardo Arevalo de León, who made it to the second round of the presidential elections on 25 June.

The public ministry’s decision is unprecedented in Guatemala because, according to warnings from local and international sectors in recent weeks, courts and justice should not interfere with poll results.

“The Court of the Seventh Criminal Instance has ruled to suspend the legal personality of the Semilla political party,” Currucis said in a public ministry announcement, without mentioning the future of the elections.

The prosecutor’s office accuses Semilla of allegedly illegal financing of the elections and the use of false signatures.

Arevalo de León managed to qualify for the second round after surprisingly coming in second in the June 25 elections behind former First Lady Sandra Torre.

The official release of the results was delayed after the Constitutional Court, the Central American country’s highest court, ordered a new review of July 1 election records, which ran from July 4 to 6.

The electoral process in Guatemala was widely marked ahead of the elections by the suspension of three candidates with the possibility of winning the presidential election.

The announcement of Semilla’s removal came before the High Electoral Tribunal officially released the results of the vote on 25 June.

Arevalo de León has already warned in recent days that the “Corrupt Pact” that “co-opted” the state will try to block his accession to the presidency.

In Guatemala, a group of politicians, soldiers, businessmen and drug-traffickers who co-opted most government institutions after they were ousted in 2019 by the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala is called the “Corrupt Pact”. (Cicig), a division of the UN that eliminated more than 200 corruption structures.

coup attempt

Organization selective point of view He stated that by the actions of the prosecutor’s office, “an attempt at an electoral coup has been completed.”

In his statement, he confirmed that the legislation stipulates that the activities of the party cannot be suspended after the announcement of the elections and before they are held.

According to EFE

Source: Aristegui Noticias

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Exit mobile version