Guatemala: European Parliament condemns coup attempt and calls for Arévalo to be sworn in in January

The European Parliament on Thursday condemned moves by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to invalidate the result of the general and presidential elections in Guatemala.

In a resolution adopted with 432 votes in favour, 9 against and 39 abstentions, MEPs denounce the attempted coup d’état on the basis of “unfounded accusations of fraud” and reject all actions by some Guatemalan authorities that “manifestly violate the Guatemalan Constitution, the rule of law, the integrity of the electoral process and the most fundamental principles of democracy, including the separation of powers”.

MEPs express their support for President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, leader of the Seed Movement, and call for an orderly transition leading to his inauguration as Guatemala’s 52nd president on 14 January. The House stresses that the EU election observation mission found the elections to be transparent and well organised, “without finding any grounds for alleging fraud”.

The text urges the authorities, and in particular the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Congress and President Alejandro Giammattei, to take measures to protect constitutional order and the rule of law and to ensure that the will of Guatemalan citizens expressed at the ballot box is respected.

MEPs also want those responsible for the democratic obstruction to be held accountable and call on the Council to adopt sanctions – including a travel ban and asset freeze – against the Attorney General, María Consuelo Porras Argueta, the head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI), José Rafael Curruchiche Cacul, Judge Fredy Raúl Orellana Letona, FECI prosecutor Leonor Eugenia Morales Lazo and the secretary general of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Ángel Arnoldo Pineda Avila, among others. Parliament accuses them of undermining the 2023 electoral process and of systematically instrumentalising the justice system to weaken the rule of law and criminalise the opposition.

Finally, Parliament is concerned about the arbitrary detention of prosecutors, judges, former officials of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and independent journalists such as José Rubén Zamora and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained, as well as the dismissal of all unfounded criminal charges.

More information: European Parliament