Washington.- The Government of the United States on Wednesday called for integrity in the second electoral round in Guatemala and highlighted the work of the international observation missions in the Central American country.
“USA. supports the integrity of the process authorized by the Guatemalan Constitution,” wrote the head of the Department of State for Latin America, Brian Nichols, on his Twitter account.
In turn, the diplomat pointed out that his government welcomes the decision of the Guatemalan government to receive a “historic” number of electoral observation missions in the elections, which took place last Sunday.
The left-wing candidate Bernardo Arévalo, with a strong anti-corruption speech, obtained an unexpected second place in the elections, for which he will compete in a second round in August with former first lady Sandra Torres, who led the count.
The observation missions of the Organization of American States and the European Union, whose work was highlighted by Nichols on his Twitter, have sounded the alarm about the intervention of the judicial apparatus in the elections and the restrictions on press freedom in Guatemala.
The OAS mission, in a report published yesterday, criticized the “high judicialization” of the elections, with the suspension of many candidacies, because “it eroded the credibility of the process.”
The European Union, for its part, assured that the elections included “serious” restrictions on freedom of expression and of the press.
The Spanish deputy and head of the observation mission, Jordi Cañas, warned yesterday at a press conference that the general elections were held in a context of “serious deterioration of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.”
According to the scrutiny of the elections, 17.38 percent (956,413 votes) were null, the highest number of votes, won by Torres Casanova, of the National Unity of Hope (UNE), with 15.78%. , that is, 868,124 votes.
The second place corresponded to Arévalo de León, from the Seed Movement, with 11.8 percent (649,080 votes).
This electoral cycle has been especially controversial in Guatemala due to the disqualification of three presidential candidates by decision of the courts.
Specifically, the candidates disqualified from participating in this process were the indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera, who won fourth place in the 2019 presidential elections; businessman Carlos Pineda, who led the polls a month ago and Roberto Arzú García-Granados, son of former President Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen (1996-2000).
The electoral climate is also marked by the fact that, between 2018 and 2023, at least 30 Guatemalan journalists and justice officials have gone into exile and have denounced criminal prosecution against them.
