Guatemala Political Elite Using Legal Actions To Stop President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo From Taking Office, Says OAS

President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo is facing plenty of challenges to his win during last month's Guatemala presidential election. However, the Organization of American States says that the country's political elite is using the legal system to stop the anti-corruption crusader from taking power.

Politicians allied to the current president, various prosecutors, and political parties, have not just targeted Arevalo with various allegations, but also his own political party, Semilla. Outside observers, including the OAS, the EU, and the United States government, have all slammed these efforts, saying that these actions are undermining the will of the Guatemalan people.

Arevalo also expressed his concerns regarding the political elite targeting him and his party during a news conference on Friday. He says the efforts to disqualify the Seed Movement as a political party are "an attempt to overthrow his government before it takes office."

According to the Associated Press, the OAS's Eladio Loizaga spoke during a special meeting of the permanent council and noted that there is no doubt on who truly won the election as Arevalo defeated establishment candidate Sandra Torres via a landslide.

Loizaga also noted that the actions taken by the Attorney General's Office of Guatemala against the Seed Movement are political in nature.

"Given the documented conditions, it is impossible that the Electoral Observation Mission would arrive at any other conclusion than that in this very specific case, the mechanisms and tools of Guatemalan justice are being used politically," he said, noting that the behavior of Guatemalan authorities has been "selective, disproportionate and clearly tailored to the political moment."

US Government Concerned Regarding Subversion of Votes in Guatemala

Arevalo recently received a phone call from US Vice President Kamala Harris who congratulated him for winning and also "discussed our shared interests in combatting corruption, supporting civilian security, and increasing economic opportunity."

The VP has been very vocal regarding the corruption in Guatemala and has pointed out that the economic situation there has led many to emigrate and try their luck and cross the border to the US.

Meanwhile, according to Turkish news network, AA, the US State Department slammed the "continued actions by those who seek to undermine Guatemala's democracy."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken added, "The United States remains concerned with continued actions by those who seek to undermine Guatemala's democracy. Such anti-democratic behavior, including efforts by the Public Ministry and other actors to suspend the president-elect's political party and intimidate election authorities, undercuts the clear will of the Guatemalan people and is inconsistent with the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter."

Bernardo Arevalo's Unlikely Rise To Become Guatemala's Next President

Before the primary election, several key opposition candidates from both the left and the right were disqualified due to various reasons, which international observers called political repression. While a loud opposition candidate,

Arevalo flew mostly under the radar so he and the Seed Movement were not disqualified. When the first round of the election came, however, Arevalo was thrust into the spotlight and won an upset, taking 2^nd place and qualifying for the runoff in August.

With him running against the projected winner and establishment candidate Sandra Torres, the political elite tried to disqualify the Seed Movement and in the process, also disqualify Arevalo. This included raids in his party's offices, as well as complaints against the results.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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