Guatemala - November 2023

Guatemala’s Attorney General sparked international condemnation and further protests after seeking to strip the immunity of president-elect Bernardo Arévalo, his vice president-elect Karin Herrera, and members of his Semilla Party. The Attorney General’s office has opened an investigation for alleged crimes of “usurpation of cultural assets and illicit organization”. Such accusations, widely viewed as political in nature, relate to statements made by Arévalo and Herrera regarding a May 2022 student protest in which the students occupied the country’s only state university campus, to object to the process by which a new dean was elected. 

The Organization of American States has condemned the Attorney General’s request, stating that the prosecutorial actions constitute a transgression of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Meanwhile, the United States has announced further visa restrictions and economic sanctions against officials who undermine the democratic process. 

Sources: El Pais, Voz de America