Central America
CC’s resolution that orders to repeat the scrutiny review hearing is questioned
July 4 |
During the morning of July 2, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) had not issued a position on the provisional injunction granted by the CC, while the Departmental Electoral Board (JED) of Guatemala and the Central District Electoral Board (JEDC) had not been notified and were waiting for indications from the TSE to proceed with the injunction.
The Constitutional Court (CC) granted a provisional injunction to a group of nine political parties, generating a series of steps for the verification of the minutes, preventing the TSE from making official the results of the general elections of June 25.
With this resolution, the different electoral boards of the country have to repeat the scrutiny review hearing, where challenges could be presented in minutes that, according to the criteria of the political parties, are not completely clear.
For example, some of the minutes that have been questioned are those that have a series of erasures, along with others that appear to have errors in the addition of the votes, according to the political organizations.
The resolution of last Saturday, contemplates that in case the review of the tally sheets is not necessary, there is the possibility of a vote by vote count, which would mean opening the electoral boxes that are already in possession of the TSE, specifically in the Center of Operations of the Electoral Process (COPE), installed in the Parque de la Industria.
“The electoral boxes are no longer in the possession of the Electoral Boards, because they are already delivered to the TSE”, explained Kenneth Ordoñez, secretary of the JED of Guatemala.
“There in those boxes is the vote of the Guatemalans”, explained the secretary, adding that he agrees with electoral observation groups that affirm the need to safeguard the boxes containing the ballots. “In those boxes is the popular will and now we need the boxes back,” he says.
For his part José Murúa, president of the JEDC, points out that before proceeding they need indications from the highest electoral body. “We are waiting for the procedure indicated by the TSE, to evaluate how to proceed. Until the processes in process are not concluded, the appointment of mayor and councilmen cannot be concluded”.
The CC, after issuing the provisional injunction in favor of the parties, transferred the injunction to the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), since they stated that due to issues of “competence” it is the CSJ who should be in charge.
Central America
Arévalo warns of ‘Dark Interests’ targeting human rights defenders in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de León warned on Thursday that human rights defenders are facing serious threats, aggression, and criminalization by “dark interests” embedded within the structures of the State.
“Today we are facing serious levels of threats, aggression, and criminalization against people who promote respect for human rights, coming from actors and criminal networks—sometimes embedded in State institutions—that refuse to accept that Guatemala is changing,” Arévalo said during a public event held at the former Government Palace.
During the event, authorities presented the Public Policy for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders 2025–2035, an initiative developed in compliance with a 2014 resolution from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), issued in response to the killing of activist Florentín Gudiel Ramos in 2004.
Central America
Newborn found in Costa Rican dump survives two days in unsanitary conditions
Costa Rican media outlets report that a newborn baby was found in a garbage dump, where he had reportedly spent two days in unsanitary conditions.
Police located the infant after a resident alerted authorities upon hearing crying coming from a clandestine dumping site in the Rancho Guanacaste area. The newborn was discovered alive inside a drainage channel, covered in waste. He was immediately taken to the National Children’s Hospital, where he received medical care and is now in stable condition.
“The National Children’s Hospital confirms that we indeed received a newborn approximately four or five days old who was found in a wooded area near the Alajuelita roundabout. He was first taken to the Solón Núñez Clinic and then transferred to this hospital. As of now, the baby is in the emergency department in good condition. He arrived a bit cold, but he has been warmed, fed, and his initial physical exam is completely normal,” explained hospital director Carlos Jiménez Herrera, according to CR Hoy.
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.
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