Central America
Justice moves forward in cases against Guatemala’s president-elect
December 13 |
Both the Attorney General’s Office and a Guatemalan court judge advanced, by different paths, in separate investigations against the president-elect of that Central American country, Bernardo Arévalo.
The Attorney General’s Office delivered this Monday to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) a report of the investigation on alleged anomalies for which it considers “null” the elections won by Arevalo last summer.
This followed Friday’s announcement by the Attorney General’s Office when it said it had detected irregularities in the vote count of the first round of June elections, although the president of the TSE, Blanca Alfaro, qualified that same day that the results of the elections “are unalterable” and that Arevalo must assume power on January 14.
But, the day before, “the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity sent to the Magistrate President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the criminal investigation developed by the Prosecutor’s Office, so that after the analysis, they can adopt the decision they consider convenient”, it was reported.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, there were a series of anomalies in the final minutes of the closing of the scrutiny in the elections of president, vice-president, deputies, corporations and deputies to the Central American Parliament.
Meanwhile, a judge sentenced this Monday an electoral official to two and a half years in prison for the alleged case of false signatures used for the creation of the Semilla Movement, Arévalo de León’s party.
According to several experts and Arévalo de León himself, this case of the alleged false signatures is part of the attempts of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía) to prevent the president-elect from taking office on January 14.
The sentence, ordered by criminal judge Fredy Orellana, was against an unidentified official of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, informed a statement from the Attorney General’s Office: the “sentenced person accepted his responsibility in the commission of the crimes”, and the sentence given is two years and six months in prison, said the Public Prosecutor’s Office, although in Guatemala prison sentences may be commutable if they are less than five years.
Arévalo de León, who enjoys immunity both for his current position as congressman and for the presidential election he won, is accused in the same case being handled by Judge Orellana.
Last September 1, Arévalo de León warned that the attorney general and head of the Public Ministry, Consuelo Porras Argueta, is carrying out a “coup d’état” against him in order to prevent his investiture in January.
Central America
Venezuelan opposition leader to meet Costa Rican president Rodrigo Chaves on thursday
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia will meet with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves this Thursday, the Presidential Office of Costa Rica announced today.
“We will give a warm welcome to the person who won the July elections in Venezuela, and we continue to denounce electoral fraud,” President Chaves stated during his weekly press conference.
Meanwhile, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Arnoldo André explained that González Urrutia is visiting Costa Rica to “inform the president and provide details about the situation in Venezuela, the victory he achieved with over 7 million votes on July 28, and the electoral fraud committed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which fraudulently swore him in as president.”
González Urrutia is currently in Guatemala, having arrived from the Dominican Republic as part of a tour through several countries ahead of the controversial inauguration on January 10, during which the Chavista leader Nicolás Maduro was sworn in as president by the National Assembly, controlled by the ruling party.
Central America
President Arévalo highlights anti-corruption and drug trafficking efforts in first year report
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de León highlighted this Tuesday the progress made in the fight against corruption and drug trafficking as cornerstones of his first year at the helm of the Guatemalan government, during a session in Congress.
“We are in a process of transformation, but the commitment must be focused on eradicating the corruption that has oppressed us for so long,” said the president during the presentation of his first government report.
Arévalo de León urged lawmakers to “work together for structural change” in the country and thanked the president of the Legislative Body, Nery Ramos, for their joint efforts in the approval of various laws and the alliances formed during 2024.
The Guatemalan president highlighted as an achievement of his administration the denunciation of dozens of corruption structures embedded in state entities, such as fraud networks involving businessmen and former officials.
Central America
Honduras arrests former military leaders over 2009 killings
Former Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Honduras, General Romeo Vásquez, was arrested on Sunday as the alleged person responsible for the 2009 killings of two individuals by military personnel, just days after leading the coup against former President Manuel Zelaya.
Along with him, the Deputy Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Venancio Cervantes, and the former commander of the Joint Operations Command were also detained, according to the Secretary of State for Security (Interior), Gustavo Sánchez, on his social media account X.
“The three arrests were made moments ago by the Honduran Police in coordination with the Public Ministry in Tegucigalpa and La Paz (west),” Sánchez said.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office had issued an arrest warrant for the three ex-military officials “on charges of homicide and aggravated assault” against Obed Murillo and Alex Zavala, who were attacked by “members of the Armed Forces,” according to the Public Ministry.
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