He Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala this Saturday guaranteed the results of the elections held last June and August, despite the “kidnapping” of minutes with votes by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office) in a raid for a “reserved” case.
The court’s judge, Blanca Alfaro, assured journalists this morning that “all the results have already been duly made official,” including the triumph of the president-elect, Bernardo Arévalo de León, who must take office on January 14.
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Alfaro added that the results of the elections “They are already certified and that cannot be changed with a diligence.”
Through tears, the judge of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal regretted the raid by the Public Ministry, which began on Friday and lasted until this Saturday.
“I don’t know what happens to us as Guatemalans”he said after the Prosecutor’s Office forcibly took the electoral records, which according to Alfaro and the law, must be safeguarded by the electoral court.
The magistrate added that they were physically attacked by prosecutors from the Public Ministry during the raid. “They took all the boxes, with all the results”he pointed out.
Arévalo de León won the elections on August 20 in a runoff where he surpassed former first lady Sandra Torres, with almost a million votes difference.
The academic, from the Semilla Movement party, denounced on September 1 that the Public Ministry is carrying out “a coup d’état” against him to prevent his inauguration on January 14.
Raid since Friday
The authorities did not detail the case for which the raids were carried out, since the Public Ministry has indicated that it is under “judicial reserve”.
The prosecutor in charge of the case, Rafael Curruchiche, stated on Friday in statements to journalists that the objective of the judicial process is to save “democracy” in Guatemala.
Curruchiche and the leadership of the Public Ministry were sanctioned by the United States in the last two years under accusations of “undermine” Justice in Guatemala.
During his statements on Friday, the prosecutor accused the Organization of American States (OAS) of “staining” the democracy of the Central American country.
“This is an operation that is part of a confidential investigation, which seeks to rescue the democracy of the country that has been hit by the OAS”Curruchiche assured journalists during the operation.
Curruchiche was part of a meeting this month between the head of the Public Ministry and the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, who visited Guatemala to supervise the government transition process.
With Friday’s raid, there are now four searches carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office at the headquarters of the electoral court during the last two months, in addition to another at the Movimiento Semilla party, in Arévalo de León.
