Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has joined international pressure to call on Guatemalan authorities to respect Bernardo Arévalo's election victory and allow the peaceful transfer of power in the Central American country. “He won the election and because of a situation of resistance to change, resistance to democracy and lack of respect for the will of Guatemalans, they are creating obstacles,” the president said in his press conference on Tuesday.
The Mexican executive's announcement comes amid full political turmoil in Guatemala, where various levels of the state have sought to prevent Arévalo's planned January 14 takeover. It is also an atypical statement because Mexican diplomatic tradition typically avoids taking a clear position on other countries' domestic policies, upholding principles such as non-intervention and self-determination of peoples. López Obrador argued that the crisis in the neighboring territory was exceptional and denied that his words could be interpreted as an interventionist act. “They are our brothers and we do not want to see political instability in Guatemala, our southern border,” he said.
“If the will of the people in Guatemala is not respected, conflicts can arise,” said the Mexican president, explaining his statement. He also said that the diplomatic consensus in America and the world regarding the political situation in Guatemala is that democracy must be respected. Mexico has a border of almost 1,000 kilometers with the Central American country and is one of its most important trading partners. The comments also mark a distancing from outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, who, despite ideological differences with López Obrador, managed to find common ground for cooperation on issues such as immigration management and the application of Mexican development cooperation social programs.
López Obrador insisted on calling on authorities to enforce the will of Guatemalan voters and called on the United Nations (UN) to also take a stand on the situation after Arévalo denounced legal persecution to prevent his inauguration. The president emphasized that the left-wing candidate had “won by a large margin” and offered his office without the media asking questions about the so-called morning conference.
A Guatemalan prosecutor suggested last Friday that the second-round election in which Arévalo defeated former first lady Sandra Torres last August should be annulled. The Organization of American States (OAS) condemned the proposal, denouncing “an attempted coup by the Guatemalan Ministry of State.” “The OAS demands that democracy in Guatemala be respected, and I am talking about the OAS. You can already imagine how extreme the actions of certain groups are,” said López Obrador, whose government has had constant tensions with the continental organization. The Supreme Electoral Court, the highest electoral body, stressed that the results that gave Arévalo victory were valid and ordered the conservative Giammattei to cede power to him. There is still the possibility that attempts will be made to overturn the election victory through legal means and a ruling by a constitutional court, although no judicial body has yet exhausted these options.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) adopted a resolution this week stating that there are “serious risks to the rule of law in Guatemala” and an “imminent collapse of the constitutional order due to abuse of power.” Militants and sympathizers of Arévalo's party have denounced the political persecution that led to arrests and raids last July, weeks after the first vote. The United States and the European Union described attempts to criminalize political dissent as an “authoritarian” act typical of a “dictatorship.”
Washington announced on Monday the revocation of 300 visas for Guatemalan citizens, including those of 100 lawmakers and businessmen linked to the current government who are accused of “undermining democracy and the rule of law.” He also condemned the “undemocratic actions of the State Ministry”. Giammattei posted a message on social media rejecting the “intimidating actions” from abroad and saying he was the target of a “political and media manipulation campaign.” The president noted that the sanctions “attack national sovereignty, a fundamental element that prohibits interference in the internal affairs of a state.” And he added that he had the “firm will” to bring about a peaceful transfer of power: “In Guatemala, there are no measures that could prevent the assumption of office by the elected authorities.”
The Guatemalan government and its diplomatic mission in Mexico have not yet responded to López Obrador's statements. Citizens are in uncertainty about the democratic future of the country and the government that the new president will receive, amid a transition that has become lengthy and complicated and has worried the international community.
Subscribe here Subscribe to the EL PAÍS México newsletter and receive all the important information on current events in this country