Central America

Guatemalan president-elect warns of a coup d’état

Photo: @PedroLemusSV

December 10 |

The president-elect of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, indicated “we are facing an absurd, ridiculous and perverse coup d’état”, after the Attorney General’s Office indicated that the elections held this year and in which he won with 58% of the votes, should be annulled due to alleged administrative irregularities of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

“The coup plotters are kicking the can down the road, the last shaky steps for a coup d’état”, said Arevalo, who added that these actions come from a group of high officials operating from the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP).

In the same sense, the 64 year old academic said that “the coup attempt is real and has brought us to a crucial moment for the history of our country”.

This group filed an investigation to try to prevent the presidential inauguration, on January 14, 2024, he argued.

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“The coup group that occupies the MP has made very clear the intentions of the illegal actions they have carried out in the last year, they began with the repression to restrict the freedom of expression,” said the president.

According to the Guatemalan politician, these actions of the MP are part of a larger plan that the investigating entity has been greasing. “They continued with the persecution of the social and political organization, today they are exerting pressure and extortion against any official who opposes to follow their illegal instructions”, he denounced.

Among the accusations made by the MP are the alleged irregular affiliation to found the political party Movimiento Semilla, since the Prosecutor’s Office has a confirmatory statement from a former worker of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), who confessed to the alleged irregularities.

“We do not know what it is, we are simply listening to affirmations of the MP. I believe that their credibility does not exist anywhere without them demonstrating the things they are doing, we do not have access to the folder”, Arévalo emphasized.

Another of the specific accusations against the political group is an alert activated by the Intendencia de Verificación Especial (IVE) for an alleged suspicious transaction of 44,000 dollars, which in the opinion of the authorities could be a case of possible money laundering.

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“The 44 thousand dollars that are reported are even known in a loan contract that we subscribed with a person who is affiliated to the party to be able to pay the fine imposed on us by the TSE, it is perfectly documented and registered”, he explained.

Lawyers of the group said they have a clear legal route, since they will have to respond to the new requests of pre-trial presented against the president elect and two deputies of the party.

Related Topics:Central America Guatemala

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Guatemala’s government announced on Tuesday that it will end this year a cooperation agreement with Cuba that has brought doctors from the Caribbean nation to work in the Central American country.

Guatemala’s Health Ministry told EFE that the program, which has been in place for nearly three decades, will be phased out progressively throughout 2026.

According to the same source, there are currently 412 Cubans in Guatemala under the agreement, including 333 physicians.

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Earlier this week, lawmaker Sonia Gutiérrez, from the left-wing Winaq party, warned that the move “could be an inhumane act that threatens the health and lives of the country’s most vulnerable populations,” given the historic importance of Cuban doctors in providing medical care.

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Guatemala isolates Barrio 18 leader after attacks that killed 11 police

Guatemalan authorities have placed a leader of the Barrio 18 gang in an isolated cell without الكهرباء or “privileges” after he was accused of triggering a recent wave of violence that left 11 police officers dead, the government said on Sunday.

Members of Barrio 18, which is designated as a “terrorist” organization by both the United States and Guatemala, carried out the killings on January 18 in retaliation for the government’s takeover of three prisons that had been under the control of inmates linked to the group.

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In a message posted on X alongside photographs, Arévalo announced the isolation of Aldo Dupie, also known as “El Lobo,” one of the gang leaders who allegedly directed the uprisings.

Images released by the government show Dupie inside a small cell with narrow windows, built from metal containers, in a secured area of the Renovación I prison in southern Guatemala — the same facility where the hostage-taking riot took place.

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With a shaved head and a stern expression, the gang leader appears alone and in handcuffs, according to the photographs.

Guatemala’s prison system said the “new area,” protected by metal fencing and barbed wire, will house high-risk inmates who will remain without privileges or electricity.

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