Economic news

US calls for end to ‘intimidation efforts’ in Guatemala ahead of presidential transition

2023.09.18 20:54



GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -The United States urges Guatemalan authorities to end their “intimidation efforts” targeting election officials and members of the party voted to power in last month’s presidential elections, the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States said on Monday.

Speaking to the OAS permanent council, Ambassador Francisco Mora said the U.S. was concerned about efforts to undermine democracy in Guatemala, including the prosecutor’s office recently raiding electoral storage facilities and opening sealed ballots.

“In a healthy democracy, institutions don’t tamper with ballot boxes after election results have been officially certified by the appropriate authority,” Mora said, adding the act represented “an assault on the rule of law.”

Last week, the top prosecutor’s office in the Central American country raided facilities run by Guatemala’s main electoral tribunal as part of an investigation into the lead-up to the elections which saw anti-graft candidate Bernardo Arevalo and his Semilla Party overwhelmingly come out on top.

Arevalo suspended his participation in the transition of power last week until “necessary institutional (and) political conditions are reestablished.”

He said on Monday he would analyze the possibility of restarting the transition process, speaking to press as he presented a legal challenge against the investigation to Guatemala’s Supreme Court.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the court to accompany Arevalo, waving flags and holding signs that read “out with the coup-mongers.”

More protests are expected to continue on Tuesday, with roadblocks planned throughout the country in support of Arevalo and to demand the resignation of the prosecutor investigating him.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 83,214.30 0.28%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,904.35 0.42%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.01%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.32 2.34%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 579.10 0.13%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 126.23 0.00%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.01%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.719599 0.70%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.169659 0.39%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.221605 1.60%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 1,901.27 0.68%
pi-network
Pi Network (PI) $ 1.59 8.20%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 83,008.24 0.14%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.73 0.18%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 14.05 5.07%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.277221 2.21%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.03%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.193059 2.43%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,277.09 0.41%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 18.81 1.11%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000013 2.54%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 2.24 2.37%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 2.82 1.73%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 90.37 0.51%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 333.51 0.42%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.18 3.50%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 6.27 3.40%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.02%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 1,904.94 0.48%
binance-bridged-usdt-bnb-smart-chain
Binance Bridged USDT (BNB Smart Chain) (BSC-USD) $ 1.00 0.06%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 4.29 1.89%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 13.99 13.55%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 28.26 0.86%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,022.45 0.61%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 208.32 0.50%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 5.90 1.27%
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.04 0.13%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999808 0.01%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 2.65 1.19%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 5.24 1.36%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000007 2.57%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 18.24 2.23%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 45.73 8.79%
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 0.855835 0.78%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 5.58 0.62%
coinbase-wrapped-btc
Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) $ 83,214.30 0.26%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 167.26 4.08%
gatechain-token
Gate (GT) $ 20.48 0.73%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.725997 2.97%
official-trump
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 11.66 8.12%