Q24N — Prosecutors in Guatemala asked a court Friday to strip President-elect Bernardo Arevalo of his immunity, saying there could be enough irregularities to annul the election results, a move the Organization of American States (OAS) called part of “a coup attempt.”
It was the third time prosecutors have sought to lift Arevalo’s immunity since he won election in August, and the OAS said prosecutors were seeking to subvert “the will of the people.”
Arevalo is scheduled to take office on January 14, and it was unclear whether the prosecutors’ continued targeting of him and his party could interfere with the inauguration.
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The most recent request from prosecutors cites alleged irregularities in the way Arevalo’s Seed Movement party gathered signatures to register years earlier, something previously raised by prosecutors just before electoral authorities confirmed Arevalo’s spot in the runoff after a first round of voting.
Vote tallies questioned
At a news conference Friday, prosecutors said there were alleged irregularities in some precinct vote tallies that could lead to the election results being annulled.
Rafael Curruchiche, special prosecutor against impunity, said the Supreme Electoral Tribunal would have to resolve the situation. “All of the political parties and all of the candidates in all of the elections were affected here,” he said.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal responded almost immediately that the election results were inalterable.
“The results are valid, certified, and the people [who won their races] are necessarily accredited and must take office January 14. If not, it would be a rupture of the constitutional order,” tribunal President Blanca Alfaro said.
Authorities arrested a number of Seed Movement members in recent weeks. They previously requested stripping Arevalo of immunity over alleged mishandling of party funds and requested that he and his vice president-elect lose their immunity for allegedly making supportive comments on social media about the takeover of a public university last year.
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Charges of ‘political fraud’
In a statement, the OAS said it “condemns the coup attempt by Guatemalan prosecutors” and urged Guatemala’s courts and congress not to allow it.
“The attempt to nullify this year’s general elections represents the worst form of breaking with democracy and consolidating a political fraud against the will of the people,” the OAS wrote.
Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the U.S. government, has faced months of protests and calls for her resignation as well as international condemnation for her office’s interference. Porras, as well as outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, have denied any intent to meddle in the election results.
Arevalo had not been polling among the top candidates headed into the first round of voting in June but secured the second spot in the runoff with his promise to crack down on Guatemala’s endemic corruption. In the final vote in August, he won by a wide margin over former first lady Sandra Torres.
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