Bernardo Arévalo, candidate of the Movimiento Semilla party, during a political rally in Sacatepéquez, July 16, 2023. Photo: EFE.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) of Guatemala confirmed this Tuesday, July 18, in a communication sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office that it will not veto the Movimiento Semilla party, the political party to which Bernardo Arévalo, candidate for the presidential runoff on August 20, belongs.
The decision of the electoral court responds to a request—the second of its kind—made to the Attorney General’s Office, endorsed by Judge Freddy Orellana, to remove Semilla from the presidential race on charges of corruption, linked to an alleged use of false signatures in order to register the party.
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The first lawsuit was filed on July 12, and was subsequently annulled by the Constitutional Court. Faced with this new request from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the TSE limited itself to reiterating the need to obey the decision of the Constitutional Court, the highest legislative level of electoral matters.
The campaign of the Public Prosecutor’s Office against Semilla resulted in a series of demonstrations over the course of three days in front of the headquarters of the judicial body, demanding the dismissal of the Attorney General, Consuelo Porras. The Attorney General was sanctioned in 2021 by the United States for sabotaging the Guatemalan judiciary, despite the fact that it is the US government enabling democratic instability in the region in the first place.
#URGENTE 🚨 TSE informa a la FECI que la CC amparó al partido Semilla, resolución que no afecta ni deja en suspenso el proceso electoral y preserva la oficialización de datos "a efecto de que se lleve a cabo la segunda vuelta electoral" en las fechas indicadas. pic.twitter.com/hRHg5x6BWJ
— Prensa Comunitaria Km169 (@PrensaComunitar) July 19, 2023
The protesters also demanded the dismissal of Judge Freddy Orellana, who was in charge of the process that charged and imprisoned the renowned journalist, José Rubén Zamora, who was one of the main critics of the government of the current right-wing president, Alejandro Giammattei.
Semilla—the party for which Bernardo Arévalo is the presidential—achieved a great surprise on June 25 when it came in second place with 12% of the votes, competing against the candidate for the Union for Hope party, Sandra Torres, who won first place with 15% of the votes. Giammattei’s successor will emerge from the second round of elections, scheduled for August 20.
(HispanTV) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
