Since the surprise second place win of an anti-corruption candidate in Guatemala, some judges and government officials have taken action to suspend and disqualify the candidacy in court.
On Thursday morning, armed and masked police raided the independent electoral tribunal's citizen registry office as part of a investigatory probe—under the direction of an attorney general on the U.S. State Departments' list of Undemocratic and Corrupt Actors.
We condemned these actions in our official statement on the events, as have E.U. members and the House and Senate Chairmen of the the Foreign Affairs Committees. To ensure a peaceful transfer of power from now, through the runoff election on August 20th, to the peaceful transfer of power on January 14th, the international community must make it known that we are interested in the fair outcome and we will be watching closely.
Join us in urging President Biden and Congress to condemn interference and call on the Guatemalan government to respect the will of voters, ensure the participation of Semilla in the August elections, and transfer power to the winner on January 14 without further hindrance.
Photo of protests outside of the Guatemalan embassy in Washington, D.C. on July 13