Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei Promises To Not Hold On to Power as Election Result Questions Persist

The Guatemalan election results are still being held up, stoking fears that controversial President Alejandro Giammattei is trying to hold onto power. However, in an unusual move, the president released an open letter promising he would not hold on to power.

Alejandro Giammattei has been accused of moving further into authoritarianism, especially by the United States. Opponents fear that he is trying to hold onto power beyond his term because one of the candidates who qualified in the upcoming August runoff election is a critic and has vowed to take on Guatemala's problem with corruption.

In his open letter, Giammettei denounced a "campaign of disinformation and absolutely false and biased rumors." According to the Associated Press, the president told the people of Guatemala that he would respect the constitutional end of his term. His last day of office is expected to be on Jan. 14, 2024.

Conservative Sandra Torres, who previously faced corruption charges, is supposed to take on progressive anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arevalo in the upcoming run-offs. However, after Torres's party sent a complaint regarding the results, Guatemala's highest court, the Constitutional Court, ordered that the election results not be released and the votes reviewed.

Organization of American States Urges Guatemala To Move Forward With Election Process

Other observers in the Americas are backing the United States in its calls for Guatemala to move forward with its democratic process. This includes the Organization of American States, which, like the US, also did not find any anomalies in last month's Guatemalan elections.

The organization released a statement, saying, "The Mission verified that no serious irregularities were revealed and that no significant changes were registered with respect to the preliminary results of Sunday, June 25," decrying the Constitutional Court's decision to release the results so that the country could move forward with the presidential run-off.

"With the extension of the electoral process, the campaigns are deprived of unrecoverable days, which affects just as much the candidates to be able to present their proposals, as the citizens to cast a more informed vote," added the organization in a statement.

Reuters reported that other international and national organizations have also criticized the decision made by Guatemala's equivalent of the Supreme Court, stating that the suspension of the electoral results was "unprecedented."

Guatemala Elections Might Lead To Unrest and More Migrants Flocking to US

When Daniel Ortega locked up political opponents to prevent them from running against him in 2021, Nicaraguans flocked to the US at historic levels as they tried to get away from his oppressive regime. The same could happen with the Guatemala elections.

According to USA Today, discontented Guatemalans are flocking to Bernardo Arevalo's side as he takes on his country's political establishment. However, with the possibility that President Alejandro Giammattei is trying to hold on to power and become more authoritarian, it might mean more hardships in Guatemala, leading more people to flee and seek asylum in the US.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH Review in Guatemala of contested electoral results - AP Archive