By Pavel Gerardo Vega (@pavelvga)
The process of recounting the records of the first round of the elections ends in more uncertainty: on the one hand, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal formalizes the ballot between Sandra Torres and the surprise candidate Bernardo Arévalo, and on the other, the Prosecutor’s Office asks to suspend Movimiento Semilla. Criticism from constitutionalists abounds about the judicial ruling, but the big question is whether the electoral magistrates will abide by the peremptory 24-hour ruling issued by a judge to remove the progressive party and its presidential candidate that criticizes the “Corrupt Pact” from circulation.
The tension spread between political circles, social networks and the streets of Guatemala this Wednesday. The epicenter of the tension was first the building of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), in the Chapina capital, where a hundred protesters stationed themselves on the outskirts of the institution to protest the delay in making the results of the first round official. electoral; the same ones that were already two weeks behind due to the objection of a dozen political parties, which achieved a second scrutiny review of the minutes ordered by the Constitutional Court (CC).
The electoral magistrates were scheduled to end a meeting of their plenary session at 4:30 pm to give a press conference, after finishing a tense tallying process that kept the Central American country in suspense for ten days. The demonstrators shouted slogans and the press questioned the absence of official results. The almost two-hour delay was shaken by a video that the Public Ministry (MP) released on its Twitter account: the controversial Special Prosecutor against Impunity (FECI), Rafael Curruchiche, announced the existence of a case of alleged falsification of signatures for the constitution of the Seed Movement. This is the party led by Bernardo Arévalo, the surprise candidate in the elections, and who –in theory– will contest the second round with former first lady Sandra Torres.
Curruchiche said that there is a possibility that the Arévalo party has committed “money laundering” in this process of falsifying signatures and settled at the beginning of the video: “The Seventh Criminal Court ordered the provisional suspension of the legal personality of the Movement Seed”. At that time, the epicenter of the tension was no longer the headquarters of the TSE.
Discontent and criticism over the ordered suspension erupted on social media and later trended in the international media. It was, for many of the protesters of the Seed Movement, the usual conspiracy of the “Corrupt Pact” but with an unprecedented aggravating circumstance: an attack against the popular will. “An attempted electoral coup”, various social organizations cataloged it.
The “Corrupt Pact” is a group of politicians, military, businessmen and people linked to drug trafficking who have co-opted most of the State institutions since they achieved the expulsion in 2019 of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig), a UN entity that dismantled more than 200 corruption structures. Critics of the system see in Curruchiche –the right-hand man of Attorney General Consuelo Porras– one of the most efficient operators of this framework.
The FECI prosecutor has promoted investigations against journalists, former prosecutors, former judges, human rights activists and justice operators who revealed the corruption of the Guatemalan system in all its spheres. The United States Government named Curruchiche –and Porras– as corrupt and anti-democratic actors in 2021.
Political analysts agree that one of the factors that silently catapulted Arévalo’s candidacy was his criticism of the prevailing corruption. “This is not for us or for Semilla, it is for the whole country. The powerful no longer want the people to freely decide their future, but we are going to defeat them,” said the progressive presidential candidate after learning of Curruchiche’s message. “The seed of change and hope will not be trampled.”
The same judge who persecutes journalists
Fredy Orellana, the head of the Seventh Criminal Instance Court, was the one who ordered the suspension of Semilla, a party created in 2019 and which surprised by sneaking into the second round in 2023 with some 653,000 votes; in addition to achieving the third largest bench in Congress with some 23 deputies.
Orellana is the same judge who ordered the capture of the former president of the extinct newspaper elPeriódico, José Rubén Zamora. The journalist was sentenced for money laundering to six years in prison in a hasty trial, during which seven of his lawyers were removed from the case, and four others were prosecuted for defending him. This same judge also ordered the capture of Curruchiche’s exiled predecessor in the FECI, Juan Francisco Sandoval, who, in contrast to the current prosecutor, was awarded by the United States with the “title of anti-corruption champion.”
In his resolution, the judge orders “that the registration of a legal entity of the committee for the constitution of the political party Movimiento Semilla and the Movimiento Semilla party be provisionally suspended.” Therefore, the ruling says, “they will not be able to participate in any subsequent political act, as well as they will not be able to be awarded party positions or candidates.”
Judge Orellana also threatens to certify what is pertinent against whoever fails to comply with his mandate, that is, if the holder of the Citizens’ Registry or the full TSE magistrates do not suspend Semilla within the next 24 hours of the ruling, he will order the Public Ministry to prosecute them. judicially.
The document was received by the TSE Citizens’ Registry which, according to the Electoral and Political Parties Law (LEPP), is the entity authorized to approve, suspend and cancel parties. In addition, article 92 of that law also establishes that “a party may not be suspended after an election has been called and until it has been held.”
TSE endorses results, uncertainty reigns
Demonstrators participate in a march to demand that the authorities of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal make the results of the elections official. EFE/ Edwin Bercian
In the midst of the discontent caused by Curruchiche’s statements and Judge Orellana’s reversal –which meant leaving Arévalo’s candidacy up in the air–, the electoral magistrates finally left their meeting. They endorsed the results of the first round and gave the signal for the second round. The discontent became a kind of joy with many questions.
During the press conference offered by the plenary session of the TSE, the presiding magistrate, Irma Palencia, declared that the suspension of the Seed Movement “is something that worries them, because elections are won at the polls derived from the sacred suffrage of the citizens and we are working for that”, although he said he was unaware of the ruling at the time.
The magistrates preferred not to answer the questions about the case announced by Curruchiche. They argued that, by declaring something, they could advance an opinion and then they would not be able to know the judge’s decision. However, Palencia recalled that the LEPP has “constitutional rank.” In other words, it is worth the same as the Political Constitution of the Republic itself.
The constitutional lawyer Edgar Orta published on Twitter that the process to annul a party cannot be dictated by an ordinary judge. “The action is absolutely illegal, a criminal judge has no jurisdiction to suspend the legal personality of a political party,” the expert emphasized. Judge Orellana’s resolution provoked a barrage of criticism from other jurists, such as Gregorio Saavedra and Alejandro Balsells Conde, who insisted on the constitutional nature of the LEPP. Former Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz, who lives in Costa Rica, joined the protest.
The TSE decree that made the second presidential round official took effect from the moment it was signed, explained President Palencia, so both candidates can start the campaign from that moment. However, this afternoon’s tension turned into uncertainty in Guatemala. Will the electoral magistrates suspend the Seed Movement and its candidates within the peremptory term of 24 hours given by the questioned justice? It remains to be seen, but on the outskirts of the TSE in Guatemala City, more citizens gathered to shout “coup d’état.”
The bosses speak out
Since the result was made official, Sandra Torres has not issued an opinion on any platform or media. The one who did speak out was the main employers’ association in Guatemala, the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (Cacif). The conglomerate expressed in a statement its disagreement with the actions of the Public Ministry and the court. “It is imperative to respect the decision of the highest electoral authority and the will of Guatemalans expressed at the polls. Respect for the Constitution and the laws of our country is essential,” the statement emphasized.
The employers’ association also reiterated the importance of respecting article 92 of the LEPP to prevent the suspension of a party during the electoral process. In addition, they declare themselves in permanent session and call on the governance bodies of the private sector to “indicate decisions and actions that must be followed.”
Regarding the rulings of the TSE and the court, Brian Nichols, Undersecretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States Department of State declared in a tweet: “We received the certification from the TSE of Guatemala of the results of the first round of elections that support the will of the people and we await the vote on August 20 with the two leading presidential candidates announced. But we are deeply concerned by the MP’s new threats to Guatemala’s electoral democracy. The institutions must respect the decision of the voters”.
For its part, the Guatemalan Electoral Observation Mission (MOE-GT), made up of seven civil society organizations, declared that it recognized the decision of the TSE plenary to make the electoral results official.
“We condemn all interference in the electoral competition and the independence of the electoral authority (…) for this reason we support the TSE’s defense of the electoral process and the Rule of Law,” the statement issued said.
Investigative journalist. He has focused on covering events related to corruption, power and politics, as well as Human Rights and vulnerable populations. Fountain:
