America, July 13, 2023 – Yesterday the Supreme Electoral Court of Guatemala (TSE) officially announced the results of the June 25 vote, in accordance with the constitutional order, confirming that the parties Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza and Movimiento Semilla will stand in the second ballot scheduled for August 20. This announcement came 17 days after the election as the TSE had to conduct a ballot recount requested via an amparo by a group of political parties who alleged alleged anomalies that were eventually thrown out.
Despite the authority of the TSE and the constitutional mandates supporting it, Seventh Criminal Court Justice Freddy Orellana, minutes before the official release of the results, ordered the Seed Movement’s legal personality suspended, in an openly illegal act designed to disrupt the electoral process in favor of false interests to legalize. The Seed Movement party has raised an amparo to stop this unlawful decision, which must be approved by the Constitutional Court to avoid violating the constitution.
This attempt to prevent the party from participating in the elections was promoted by the Public Ministry headed by Attorney General Consuelo Porras and carried out by the Special Prosecutor Against Impunity (FECI) headed by Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, who led an illegal raid on the TSE headquarters involving armed people and covered faces to incite fear and obtain documents from the Movimiento Semilla party. Officials Porras and Curruchiche are being sanctioned by the United States for corruption. Judge Orellana was questioned about the conduct of criminalization proceedings against exiled prosecutors and jailed journalist José Rubén Zamora.
The undersigned international organizations call on all Guatemalan authorities to respect the independence of the Supreme Electoral Court and the constitutional legal order. The Guatemalan institutions must ensure compliance with their constitutional mandate and not allow other bodies to arbitrarily interfere in the electoral process.
Officials who attempt to manipulate the electoral process in clear violation of the Constitution and the will of the people expressed in voting must be investigated. We demand that the threats of criminalization against members of political parties who called for elections and their legal representatives stop immediately.
We urge the international community to remain vigilant and speak out on what is happening in Guatemala and to join in their diplomatic efforts to prevent this violation of democracy.
In conclusion, we express our confidence that inappropriate actions will not succeed and that the electoral process can continue and ensure the free expression of the will of the Guatemalan people.
Signatory Organizations:
American Jewish World Service (AJWS)
Article 19 Office for Mexico and Central America
Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)
Foundation for Justice and Democratic Rule of Law
Due Process Foundation (DPLF)
impunity guard
The Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA)
Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
International platform against impunity