Bernardo Arévalo, presidential candidate with the Seed Movement party, and running mate Karin Herrera greet their followers outside Guatemala’s Attorney General’s office building in Guatemala City, Thursday, July 13, 2023. The Attorney General’s Office announced on July 12 that a judge had suspended the legal status of the Seed Movement political party for alleged violations when it gathered the necessary signatures to form. Arévalo and Herrera had been set to compete in a runoff election on Aug. 20.
GUATEMALA CITY — The Guatemalan government’s clumsy interference with its presidential election has turned a global spotlight on rampant corruption that previously had received only limited international attention.
President Alejandro Giammattei was deeply unpopular at home, but other than occasional reprobation from the United States and Europe, had managed to consolidate his control of the justice system, completely upending a longstanding anti-corruption campaign in the country with little consequence.
The June 25 presidential election may have changed all that. In the days leading up to the vote, it appeared there would be a runoff between a small number of right and extreme right candidates, including Giammattei allies. But with a large number of null votes, many cast in protest, and a campaign that resonated especially with young Guatemalans, progressive candidate Bernardo Arévalo placed second, ensuring his participation in an Aug. 20 runoff.
Suddenly, it seemed there was a real possibility of choice for Guatemalans who want to change the status quo. That stunned the powers that be, who quickly reacted.
“I think that fear clouded him, blinded him,” Katya Salazar, executive director of the Due Process Foundation, said of Giammattei. She added that Arévalo’s surprise support was “a demonstration of the dissatisfaction” in the Central American country.
“I think he (Giammattei) thought that it would be the same as always,” she said.
Late Wednesday, a federal prosecutor announced that Arévalo’s party, the Seed Movement, had been suspended for allegedly violating election laws. Prosecutors followed up on Thursday morning by raiding the offices of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal just hours after it certified the election results that put Arévalo in the runoff.
At a news conference on Friday, special anti-corruption prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche defended his investigation as serious, objective and impartial. He said the inquiry had taken a year to complete and it was a coincidence that he announced it on the same day the Supreme Electoral Tribunal certified the election results.
“That idea they have that this case arises from political issues is completely false,” Curruchiche said. “We don’t get involved in political issues.”
The prosecutor said his office’s raid of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal on Thursday had produced very valuable information, but he did not go into specifics. He did say that the tribunal’s own documents showed it was aware that 12 signatures collected by the Seed Movement when it was being established in 2018 were those of dead people, yet still allowed them to be registered.
“They didn’t take their responsibility like they should have,” he said.
Earlier Friday, the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that it was carrying out its duty to enforce the country’s laws and not trying to interfere with the second round of voting or keep any candidate from participating in the runoff. Curruchiche said his investigation would continue.
Guatemala, a Central American country south of Mexico, is home to volcanoes, rainforests and ancient Mayan sites. The capital, Guatemala City, features the stately National Palace of Culture and the National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Antigua, west of the capital, contains preserved Spanish colonial buildings. Lake Atitlán, formed in a massive volcanic crater, is surrounded by coffee fields and villages.
Tikal National Park and Semuc Champey Natural Monument