In Guatemala, Indigenous and campesino groups have declared an indefinite national strike in response to judicial harassment of president-elect Bernardo Arévalo and his party Movimiento Semilla. Thousands of demonstrators have blocked traffic on major thoroughfares across the country. Indigenous and community leaders say the protests will continue until Attorney General Consuelo Porras and prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche resign and the Constitutional Court puts an end to what Arévalo has termed “a slow-motion coup” to prevent him from taking office in January. The strike entered its fifth consecutive day today, with at least 28 active blockade points nationally. At the road blocks, Indigenous authorities, including the 48 Cantones de Totonicapán and Indigenous mayors' offices, are joined by university students and faculty, health workers, teachers, and a wide range of civil society groups . The strike comes after Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) was raided for a fourth time last week by officials from the Attorney General’s office. A live stream video of the raid shows distressing scenes of police wrestling vote tally boxes from the arms of justices who plead with officers to respect the will of voters. The 20-hour raid was part of ongoing investigations into spurious claims of election fraud targeting Arévalo and his Semilla party. International observers have said there is no evidence of vote tampering. For the people who voted for Arévalo, an anti-establishment candidate who promises to challenge entrenched corruption and impunity, the raids are an attempt on the part of political elites to weaken or disqualify their president-elect.
Attorney General Porras and special prosecutor Curruchiche, seen as the key operatives in the campaign to sabotage Arévalo and Semilla, have both been sanctioned by the U.S. government for anti-democratic actions and obstructing investigations into corruption in Guatemala. Since Arévalo’s surprise showing in the first-round presidential election in June, Porras and Curruchiche, together with judge Fredy Orellana, have repeatedly pursued fraud allegations and other supposed irregularities. The criminalization of Semilla follows a worsening trend of lawfare, institutional intimidation, and judicialization of dissent in Guatemala, as NACLA contributor Vaclav Masek observed i n the lead-up to the August 20 runoff that handed Arévalo a landmark victory. Arévalo met with senior officials in Washington this week, after the U.S. State Department released a statement saying it was “ gravely concerned ” about ongoing efforts to undermine a peaceful transition of power. The U.S. government has imposed visa restrictions on current and former members of congress, justice officials, and “anyone else who undermines democracy.” In a statement, the White House expressed support for Arévalo “following last week's undemocratic efforts to undermine the will of the Guatemalan people, intimidate election authorities, and prevent the peaceful transition of power." In the face of the ongoing judicial harassment against Arévalo and Semilla, the TSE is considering extending the formal election period until the January presidential inauguration, a move that would protect the party from suspension. The Organization of American States (OAS) described the situation in Guatemala as "a political persecution similar to those carried out in authoritarian regimes." The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has raised concerns about the risk of violence as political tension runs high. |
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