Roman Gressier writes in El Faro about the continuing attempt by the Guatemala state to stop the January inauguration of the victor of the recent presidential election, Bernardo Arévalo. The latest attempt relates to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and the Attorney General’s move against them through the use of the Supreme Court to threaten them.
Seven days until the legal protection of Semilla expires, the Guatemalan Supreme Electoral Tribunal is weighing whether to shield Arévalo’s party from spurious cancellation until inauguration. The magistrates’ immunity itself is under threat; prosecutors’ request that the Supreme Court revoke it is AG Consuelo Porras’ sword of Damocles.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) is in a jam — one that could determine whether Attorney General Consuelo Porras is successful in barring the January 14 swearing-in of President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo.
On one hand, the magistrates will decide within one week whether to heed civil society calls to extend the electoral season —which concludes on October 31— to inauguration, shielding Arévalo’s Semilla party from cancellation. The OAS has repeatedly and unanimously criticized as baseless political persecution Attorney General Consuelo Porras’ investigations of Semilla, launched after its surprise success in the June 25 primary.
The Tribunal has privately discussed an extension three times, per ConCriterio. President Irma Palencia told the radio program that they are “evaluating different scenarios” and remain undecided. Ex-magistrate César Conde argued on the radio program on Monday that they should do so to “ensure the swearing-in on January 14 and 15,” citing prosecutors’ illegal seizure of certified ballots on September 30.
On the other hand, Porras could try to dismantle the Tribunal altogether by indicting its magistrates in the coming weeks or days. Her office has already filed repeated requests, now in the hands of the Supreme Court, to revoke the TSE magistrates’ immunity.
A ruling would be a wild card; Congress, controlled by corrupt parties, has allowed the Supreme Court, soiled by influence-trafficking, to overstay their term for four years now.
The TSE’s rift with Porras stems from its stubborn certification of Arévalo’s clear victory —he took home 60.9 percent of the vote— amid raids and intimidation. But while its magistrates appeared as defenders of democracy, they are at best its antiheroes: last year, magistrate Blanca Alfaro told the U.S. Embassy that President Giammattei had repeatedly bribed her colleagues. The Tribunal’s own contamination is their central weakness.
It’s no coincidence that Ricardo Méndez Ruiz —president of the Foundation Against Terrorism (FCT), a key Porras ally pushing unfounded far-right claims that Semilla committed electoral fraud— called on the Supreme Court to move against the TSE magistrates, who he labeled “a quintet of gangsters.”
You can read the full piece, with links and photos, here, While under Threat, Electoral Tribunal Considers Protecting Semilla until Inauguration.
Categories: Corruption, Criminalisation, Human Rights, Impunity, Justice, Legal, Presidential Elections, Violence
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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