Central America
Guatemalans demand resignation of attorney general
November 4 |
Thousands of Guatemalans, mostly Mayan indigenous, demanded this Friday in the streets the resignation of the attorney general, Consuelo Porras, whom they accuse of violating democracy by persecuting the elected president Bernardo Arévalo.
Carrying Guatemalan flags -blue and white- and signs demanding Porras’ resignation, a crowd protested in front of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Constitutional Court (highest judicial instance) and the Palace of Culture, former seat of government, in the capital.
The demonstrators traveled several kilometers on foot to reach these points, after starting from four entrances of Guatemala City to demand the departure of Porras, the prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche and the judge Fredy Orellana. All three are on a U.S. list of “corrupt” actors.
“We tell these corrupt people that we don’t want them anymore, their resignation has to be imminent and we will not take a step back” until we get them out, declared an activist who spoke over loudspeakers in front of the Prosecutor’s Office.
The protest took place one day after the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) disqualified Arevalo’s Semilla party, following an order issued by Judge Orellana in August for alleged irregularities in its registration. Another demonstration was called for this Saturday.
The party was disqualified on August 28 by the Registry of Citizens (electoral roll) by court order, which led Arevalo to denounce a “coup d’état” plan to prevent him from assuming power in January 2024.
However, the TSE temporarily lifted the disqualification on September 3 until the election process was formally completed on October 31.
The demonstration was called by indigenous groups and supported by other civil society entities and university students.
The peaceful march took place days after the end of two weeks of blockades of the country’s main highways, initiated on October 2 to demand the resignation of the three judicial officials.
Backed by the United States, the European Union, several governments and international organizations, the 65 year-old social democrat Arévalo considers that the three officials are an attack against democracy and seek to prevent him from assuming the presidency on January 14.
The crusade against Semilla was launched by Curruchiche after Arévalo was a surprise winner in the first round of elections on June 25 and went to the ballot on August 20, in which he obtained a wide victory with his promise to fight corruption, an endemic evil in the country.
Central America
Arévalo calls corruption the “fuel of inequality” and reaffirms commitment to public transparency
Guatemala’s President, Bernardo Arévalo, stated on Friday that corruption is “the food of misery” in his country and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to continuing to strengthen public spending transparency.
During the first anniversary of the National Commission Against Corruption (CNC) established by his administration, the president expressed his satisfaction with the progress made.
“The road has been difficult,” he said, “but I am greatly satisfied with the fight against corruption, which is the fuel of inequality and the food of misery,” the president declared before members of the international community and government officials.
Arévalo also mentioned that the people who elected him in 2023 for a four-year term that began on January 14, 2024, “demand that we combat corruption.”
Central America
Zúñiga hopes CIDH experts can help investigate intellectual authors of Berta Cáceres’ murder
Bertha Zúñiga, daughter of the murdered Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres, expressed her hope on Friday to EFE that the expert group appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) will help investigate the authorship of the crime to “heal the wounds” and rebuild the social fabric in indigenous communities affected by the hydroelectric project her mother opposed.
The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) represents an “effort to exhaust the investigations” into the responsibilities of all individuals involved in Cáceres’ murder, as well as in the “violence suffered” from the implementation of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, led by the company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA), emphasized Zúñiga.
“We hope that, with the collaboration of the prosecutorial entities, (the experts) will effectively collaborate to move forward on what we have proposed and demanded for many years: formally requiring the intellectual authors of this crime and analyzing the related crimes,” including corruption and other violations, as well as proposing a comprehensive reparation plan for the victims of the hydroelectric project,” Zúñiga explained.
The CIDH appointed a group of four experts from Argentina, Chile, the United States, and Guatemala on Friday to provide technical assistance to Honduras in investigating the intellectual authorship of Cáceres’ murder, which occurred on March 2, 2016, while she was sleeping in her home in La Esperanza, despite the multiple death threats she had reported due to her opposition to the Agua Zarca project.
Central America
Nicaragua’s family confinement program: 7.18% of released prisoners reoffend
Nicaraguan authorities have released a total of 48,964 common prisoners under the family confinement regime over the past ten years, with 7.18% of them reoffending by committing at least one crime, according to the country’s vice president, Rosario Murillo.
Murillo, who is also the wife of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and appointed “co-president” in a reform to the Constitution, stated through official media that “7.18% are individuals who have reoffended in criminal activity from 2015 to today, February 14, 2025.”
This means that 3,515 out of the 48,964 common prisoners with final sentences who have been granted family confinement privileges have returned to criminal activity, according to the report.
The early release of common prisoners has faced criticism, particularly from feminist organizations, who argue that these benefits have contributed to an increase in femicides and general crime in Nicaragua.
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