Recently, Canning House presented a webinar titled, Elections in Guatemala, featuring Rachel Sieder, Edgar Ortiz Romero, Manuel Melendez, Claudia Mendez Arriaza, and moderated by Jeremy Browne.
On 25 June, more than 5 million voters participated in the first round of Guatemala’s 2023 General Election, casting their ballots for a new President, 160 Congressional representatives, 20 deputies at the Central American Parliament, and 340 municipal Mayors and Councillors.
Prior to that first vote, Guatemala’s Electoral Tribunal had rejected four candidates, alleging violations of electoral law and errors in paperwork, leaving 22 eligible candidates – far more than in any Guatemalan election since the country’s return to democracy in 1985.
Former first lady Sandra Torres, the frontrunner in pre-election polling, came out in the lead with 15.68% of the votes, in what is her third run at the presidency. She is candidate for the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (National Unity of Hope), a centre-left party.
Unexpectedly in second place, advancing with Torres into the run-off, was Bernardo Arévalo. The former diplomat, academic and activist, candidate for Movimiento Semilla (Seed Movement), also of the centre-left, received 11.78% of the vote. Arévalo is the son of former President Juan José Arévalo Bermejo (1945-51), the country’s first democratically elected president following the Guatemalan revolution.
With nearly a million votes (17.3%) spoiled in the first round – a higher percentage than any candidate received – a group of political parties, including Torres’, alleged potential irregularities and demanded a recount. At least six of the parties issuing complaints face possible dissolution, having failed to garner the minimum required votes to remain as a legally recognised party.
On 14 July, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court, its highest, blocked an order by a lower court to ban Arévalo’s party from standing, over accusations of irregularities in the registration of some of its members. During the brief suspension, Torres’ party paused its campaigning in solidarity. Movimiento Semilla has since faced an ongoing criminal investigation, including a raid on its headquarters.
You can read more and watch a recording of the webinar here, Elections in Guatemala – webinar.
Categories: Corruption, Criminalisation, Guatemala, Human Rights, Justice, Presidential Elections, Solidarity in Action, Video, Violence
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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