The Justice of Guatemala suspends the Seed Movement

Arévalo has declared that "in no way" is he going to "obey a spurious and illegal decision"

The US condemns "the new threats from the Guatemalan Public Ministry to democracy"

The Guatemalan Justice has suspended this Wednesday the legal personality of the Movimiento Semilla party, which came second in the presidential elections held on June 25.

The special prosecutor against impunity, Rafael Curruchiche, has reported that the seventh criminal court has ordered the suspension of the formation, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, due to a complaint filed by a citizen who allegedly registered with the party illegally.

"There are indications that more than 5,000 citizens who joined the Seed Movement falsified the signature. In addition, the signature and fingerprint of a person was placed on several citizens. (...) There are signatures without names and altered sheets," he explained. Curruchiche.

The prosecutor has indicated that the Seed Movement, in its defense, denounced said citizen, presenting a copy of the list of members who joined the formation. As Curruchiche has declared, the political party would have committed a crime of laundering money or other assets, since it paid around 175,000 Guatemalan quetzales (around 20,200 euros) for the signatures it needed to establish itself.

"Given the unusual but foreseeable news, just state that we are analyzing the case with the legal team and we will let you know as immediately as possible," Movimiento Semilla responded, according to the newspaper 'La Hora'.

The party's candidate for the Presidency, Bernardo Arévalo, has indicated in an interview with CNN that "in no way" are they going to "obey a spurious and illegal decision like the one issued by that court thanks to the action of a prosecutor who is deeply committed to corruption": "He is an operator of these corrupt political elites," he added.

"Article 92 is clear, the electoral and political parties law, which is a law of constitutional rank, says that a political party cannot be effectively suspended after the election has been called and until this election has ended, for that the decision that has been made is not only illegal but unconstitutional," the presidential candidate explained.

Arévalo has stressed that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has certified the results of the first round of the presidential elections, so it goes to the second round, which will take place in August. "We are already in the second round of this electoral contest, as of tomorrow we will enter the campaign," he asserted.

For her part, the 'number two' of the party, Karin Herrera, stated that "these obstacles were put up by the same people as always": "But we also know that the doubts have been resolved, what we are certain is that we have the backing and support from you", he has published on his profile on the social network Twitter.

When the news was released, the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) were meeting at their headquarters, where protesters have gathered with chants of "coup d'état". Minutes later, the court has made official the results of the first electoral round, indicating that it does not know the scope of the suspension of the party, despite the fact that the ruling indicates that the court has a period of 24 hours to suspend the registration of the formation , that "they will not be able to participate in any subsequent political act", nor "they will be able to be awarded party positions or candidates".

All in all, Arévalo's participation in the second round remains up in the air until the TSE rules on the matter. The candidate considered that "the powerful no longer want the people to freely decide their future." "This is not for us or for Seed, it is for the whole country", he has indicated in a message on his profile on the social network Twitter in which he has added that "the seed of change and hope will not be trampled."

US CONCERNED BY THREATS TO DEMOCRACY

The US Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Brian Nichols, has welcomed the certification of the results of the first round of elections by the Guatemalan TSE, since they "defend the will of the people", but has shown his "deep concern" over the decision of the Justice to suspend the Seed Movement.

"We are deeply concerned about the new threats from the Guatemalan Public Ministry to the electoral democracy of Guatemala. The institutions must respect the will of the voters," said Nichols, who added that from Washington they are looking forward to "the vote on August 20 of the two main presidential candidates announced.

For his part, the acting deputy director of the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) for the Americas, Juan Pappier, has denounced the decisions of the Guatemalan judicial authorities, stressing that it is an attack against democracy.

"Any attempt to criminalize political parties in Guatemala at this time would be perceived by the international community as an attack on democracy and an attempt to establish a dictatorship that could end up isolated from the world like Nicaragua," Pappier said.

The candidate of the leftist party, Bernardo Arévalo, gave a surprise in the presidential elections of Guatemala, by placing himself in second place, behind Sandra Torres, of the National Unity of Hope (UNE), one of the favorites in the elections. . The polls placed the Seed Movement, one of the few options on the left among the twenty proposals that were presented, between the seventh and eighth preference of the electorate.