Central America
Justice moves forward in cases against Guatemala’s president-elect
December 13 |
Both the Attorney General’s Office and a Guatemalan court judge advanced, by different paths, in separate investigations against the president-elect of that Central American country, Bernardo Arévalo.
The Attorney General’s Office delivered this Monday to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) a report of the investigation on alleged anomalies for which it considers “null” the elections won by Arevalo last summer.
This followed Friday’s announcement by the Attorney General’s Office when it said it had detected irregularities in the vote count of the first round of June elections, although the president of the TSE, Blanca Alfaro, qualified that same day that the results of the elections “are unalterable” and that Arevalo must assume power on January 14.
But, the day before, “the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity sent to the Magistrate President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the criminal investigation developed by the Prosecutor’s Office, so that after the analysis, they can adopt the decision they consider convenient”, it was reported.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, there were a series of anomalies in the final minutes of the closing of the scrutiny in the elections of president, vice-president, deputies, corporations and deputies to the Central American Parliament.
Meanwhile, a judge sentenced this Monday an electoral official to two and a half years in prison for the alleged case of false signatures used for the creation of the Semilla Movement, Arévalo de León’s party.
According to several experts and Arévalo de León himself, this case of the alleged false signatures is part of the attempts of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía) to prevent the president-elect from taking office on January 14.
The sentence, ordered by criminal judge Fredy Orellana, was against an unidentified official of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, informed a statement from the Attorney General’s Office: the “sentenced person accepted his responsibility in the commission of the crimes”, and the sentence given is two years and six months in prison, said the Public Prosecutor’s Office, although in Guatemala prison sentences may be commutable if they are less than five years.
Arévalo de León, who enjoys immunity both for his current position as congressman and for the presidential election he won, is accused in the same case being handled by Judge Orellana.
Last September 1, Arévalo de León warned that the attorney general and head of the Public Ministry, Consuelo Porras Argueta, is carrying out a “coup d’état” against him in order to prevent his investiture in January.
Central America
Arévalo accuses Porras and judge of undermining democracy in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo denounced a new attempt at a “coup” orchestrated by the Attorney General’s Office. He also requested an extraordinary session at the Organization of American States (OAS) to address the country’s ongoing political crisis.
The president has been at odds with Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for being “corrupt” and “anti-democratic.” Since 2023, Arévalo has accused Porras of launching investigations against his party, Semilla, and the 2023 elections as part of a scheme to prevent his inauguration in January 2024.
From the presidential office, Arévalo has said he continues to “resist” the “coup plotters,” but tensions escalated last Friday when Judge Fredy Orellana, at the request of the Attorney General’s Office, ordered the electoral court to annul the Semilla party’s promoter group. Arévalo interpreted this as an attempt to revoke the positions won by the party.
“Orellana, a hitman who distorts the law in service of Consuelo Porras, is attempting to force […] the unconstitutional removal of a mayor, 23 elected deputies […], the vice president, and the president of the country,” Arévalo said in a televised address on Sunday.
“We call on the international community not to turn a blind eye to the coup being attempted in Guatemala,” he added, speaking alongside his cabinet and congressional members at the National Palace in Guatemala City.
Arévalo requested that the Organization of American States hold an extraordinary session to present “the serious threats” to the Guatemalan Constitution and democracy perpetrated by Porras and Orellana.
Yesterday, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez reaffirmed the president’s statements, emphasizing the need “to go and expose the situation” Guatemala has been facing since last week due to the actions of the Attorney General’s Office.
Central America
New dismembered bodies found in San Juan river days after mass killing in Palencia
On the morning of Monday, October 27, Guatemala’s Volunteer Firefighters confirmed the discovery of two bodies and two human heads inside plastic bags in the San Juan River, located in the Zacualpía village at kilometer 21 of the Atlantic Highway, in the jurisdiction of Palencia.
The remains were found by personnel from Companies 85, 50, and Central, who responded after receiving a report about suspicious bags floating in the water. The gruesome discovery was made just a few meters from the site where eight tortured bodies were found under the San Juan Bridge on Friday, October 24.
Local authorities do not rule out a connection between both incidents and suspect they may be tied to the same criminal organization. Investigators from the Public Ministry and the National Civil Police arrived at the scene to gather evidence and transfer the remains to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif).
According to data from the National Economic Research Center (CIEN), Guatemala recorded 2,154 homicides between January and August 2025, an increase compared to the 1,816 reported during the same period in 2024.
Central America
Four guatemalan soldiers arrested for stealing weapons from Northern Air Command
Four soldiers were arrested in connection with the theft of weapons from the Northern Air Command of the Ministry of Defense in Petén, Guatemala, following operations conducted by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office).
“During the operations, criminal scenes were processed, analyzed, and documented photographically, possible escape routes were identified, surveillance cameras were located, and potential witnesses were interviewed,” the Prosecutor’s Office explained in a social media post.
The detained soldiers were identified as Ludwin Jónathan Cardona Baltazar, charged with illicit association, dereliction of duty, and aggravated theft; and Josué Israel Pérez Jerónimo, Alain Omar Marroquín Soch, and Carlos Ernesto Ibarra Corrales, charged with dereliction of duty, according to Guatemala’s Prensa Libre.
The military personnel reportedly stole 55 rifles, 14,420 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, 92 magazines of 35 rounds each, 19 magazines of 20 rounds each, and three grenade launchers, “which were allegedly moved from the arms warehouse to the outside for illicit sale.”
The Ministry of Defense stated that it will keep its internal control mechanisms active to prevent similar incidents.
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