Demonstrations surge after court upheld suspension of Bernardo Arévalo’s party over alleged voter registration fraud
Jeff Abbott writes in The Guardian about the unfolding scenes leading the national strike that has affected Guatemala in the last few weeks.
Thousands of protestors have blocked roads across Guatemala in surging demonstrations to support the president-elect, Bernardo Arévalo, after the country’s highest court upheld a move by prosecutors to suspend his political party over alleged voter registration fraud.
Arévalo, an anti-corruption crusader who won a landslide victory in the August election, has denounced the suspension as a “coup” aimed neutralizing him before he takes office in January, and his supporters are demanding the resignation of the prosecutors responsible. Street blockades that started this week grew from 14 on Monday to 58 road and highway blockages Friday.
Arévalo and electoral authorities had challenged the suspension of his Seed Movement party in late August, arguing that the allegations of voter or registration fraud are criminal charges and that by suspending the party the prosecutors were intruding on electoral issues.
The constitutional court ruled Thursday that even though the case involves criminal accusations, prosecutors can impose measures that have electoral effects.
You can read the full piece, with links, here, Guatemala president-elect’s supporters block roads to protest party suspension.
Categories: Corruption, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Presidential Elections
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