GUATEMALA’S president-elect is seeking to bring charges against the country’s attorney-general and a judge he claims are part of a “persecution” plot against him, according to a court document obtained yesterday.

It is the latest episode in a tug-of-war between Bernardo Arevalo and authorities who have repeatedly moved to act against the politician and his party after he unexpectedly won a presidential election last month.

The filing showed Arevalo had asked the Supreme Court late Tuesday to lift the immunity against prosecution enjoyed by Attorney-General Consuelo Porras and judge Fredy Orellana.

Once this is done, they can be investigated for crimes including constitutional violations, duty breaches and abuse of authority, according to the document.

Arevalo called for Porras’ resignation after prosecutors on Tuesday seized ballots cast in a first-round election on June 25.

The 64-year-old social democrat pulled off a massive upset to advance to the August 20 run-off, which he won.

“The coup plotters must resign,” Arevalo said after the raid, naming Porras, Orellana and anti-graft prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche.

All three are on a US list of “corrupt actors.”

“They have deviated from their constitutional function… fully towards a clear coup d’etat in progress,” Arevalo said.

He has already filed a criminal complaint against Curruchiche and a colleague, Cinthia Monterroso.

In between the two rounds of voting, Curruchiche’s office sought to suspend Arevalo’s Semilla party, provoking international consternation over attempted election interference.

Curruchiche told reporters Tuesday the latest raid had nothing to do with any investigation into Semilla, but came from a “citizen complaint” of alleged irregularities.

Irma Palencia, president of the election body that had possession of the ballots, said the seizure was “unprecedented and worrying.” 

“Now we cannot guarantee the contents of the boxes,” she said.

The raid generated a fresh wave of international criticism.

Brian Nicholas, the top US diplomat for Latin America, denounced it as an “unprecedented action (that) undermines the democratic transition and the will of the Guatemalan people.”

“These actions constitute further proof that the Public Prosecutor’s Office, far from adjusting its actions to democratic standards, has been intensifying a strategy of questioning the electoral process and intimidating electoral authorities,” added the Organization of American States’ Electoral Observation Mission.

Arevalo, who is set to take office in January, on Tuesday suspended his participation in a transition process with outgoing right-wing President Alejandro Giammattei until the “necessary institutional political conditions are reestablished.” – AFP, September 14, 2023.