By isela espinoza
On February 11, the presidential candidate, Thelma Cabrera, together with her running mate, Jordán Rodas, held a meeting with commissioners and rapporteurs of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) where they exposed the rejection of the registration of his candidacy by the Registry of Citizens of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).
“We are being denied the right to participate,” emphasized on that occasion the couple of the Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP) party at the IACHR headquarters located in Washington DC.
This Friday, through a press release, the IACHR called on the State of Guatemala to guarantee political rights, pluralism, and equal participation in the 2023 electoral process. In the document, the autonomous body of the Organization of States of America (OAS), affirms that on January 27 he was informed about the refusal to register this presidential binomial because Rodas would have a complaint against him and of which he still has no formal knowledge, as he explained to the IACHR .
Currently, the presidential binomial of the Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP) party has exhausted all legal processes in Guatemala, filing appeals before the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and the Constitutional Court (CC).
In the press release, the IACHR states that the State of Guatemala responded that the TSE “guarantees the conditions of the electoral process” in accordance with the Constitution and that through the competent institutions “it has proceeded in observance of national law , in particular the Law on Probity and Responsibility of Public Officials and Employees, which provides that those who, having collected, guarded or administered State assets, do not have proof of solvency or settlement, may not apply for any public office.
The State added in its response that “it is inappropriate to call on the State to guarantee electoral participation when it is currently being guaranteed” since they have allowed “all interested parties” to appeal through the judicial resources available to appeal the decisions of the TSE. .
Last Thursday the CC rejected a legal appeal with which Cabrera and Rodas sought to be registered for the general elections on June 25, so the participation of said political group is uncertain. With the resolution of the CC, now Cabrera and Rodas hope to hear a ruling from the CSJ.
In this context, the IACHR noted that Article 23 of the American Convention on Human Rights establishes that all citizens must enjoy not only political rights, but also opportunities to exercise them. “Therefore, the State must provide the conditions and mechanisms so that these rights can be exercised effectively, respecting the principle of equality and non-discrimination,” she stressed.
The document concludes with a call to the State of Guatemala to guarantee the “effective participation of individuals, groups and organizations and political parties through regulations and practices that enable real and effective access to the different deliberative spaces on equal terms.” In addition, it urged the judicial authorities that hear amparo remedies to act in accordance with the regulatory framework and inter-American standards.
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