Guatemalans rally on behalf of president-elect, demonstrating a will to defend democracy
Protests by thousands of Guatemalans this week supporting President-elect Bernardo Arévalo suggest that the efforts by some officials to derail his presidency have awakened a new will among many citizens to defend democracy.
Guatemala's electoral authority blocks the suspension of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo's party
Guatemala’s top electoral authority says that it has blocked the suspension of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s Seed Movement, at least temporarily giving the party back its legal status and cutting off an attempt by rials to weaken Arévalo.
Guatemala's Congress refuses to recognize president-elect's party
Guatemala’s Congress, which is controlled in its majority by the governing party, has refused to recognize the seven lawmakers from the Seed Movement party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, following the suspension of his party earlier this week.
Guatemala's president-elect faces legal challenges that seek to weaken him. Here's what's happening
Guatemala's Aug. 20 presidential election has been bogged down in court and legal challenges despite the fact the results were clear: Progressive candidate Bernardo Arévalo won about 61% of the vote to conservative Sandra Torres' 39%.
Guatemalan president calls for transition of power to anti-corruption crusader Arévalo
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei is calling for a democratic transition of power to anti-corruption campaigner and president-elect Bernardo Arévalo and his party Seed Movement, which have faced waves of legal attacks in attempts to block his rise to power.
Guatemala's pick of independent anti-corruption progressive as president may face challenge
Guatemalans overwhelmingly picked an independent, anti-corruption progressive to be the country’s next president but his opponent remained silent Monday, leaving open the possibility of a challenge to landslide results that rejected the country’s elite.
Guatemala's corruption is thrust into international spotlight by the government's election meddling
The Guatemalan government’s clumsy interference with its presidential election has turned a global spotlight on a country whose struggles with deep corruption previously received little international notice.
Top tribunal certifies Guatemala's election result minutes after another court suspends party
Guatemala’s troubled presidential election has been thrown into even greater turmoil after the country’s top electoral tribunal confirmed the results of the June 25 vote while the Attorney General’s Office announced that the second place party had been suspended.
Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala's electoral surprise, makes corruption fight top priority
Bernardo Arévalo, the surprise of the first round of voting in Guatemala, says the choice in the Aug. 20 presidential runoff is a clear one: Continue living under a corrupt system with his rival or rebuild the country’s democracy with him.
Signs that Guatemala's justice system is under attack
With the departure of the United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission last year that supported a war against some of the countrys most powerful political, business and criminal leaders, Guatemalas pursuers have become the pursued. The U.N.-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala left the country in September, after then-President Jimmy Morales decided not to renew its mandate. Both prosecutors are in the United States, which is also where Guatemalas former Attorney General Thelma Aldana went after leading Guatemala's anti-corruption fight. It is a clear attempt by criminal and corrupt networks to take control of the justice system to obtain impunity and protection for themselves," she said. With the justice system under attack from outside forces and from within, President Alejandro Giammattei has remained on the sidelines even though its his party that controls Congress.
Guatemala's election has global implications
(CNN) - Donald Trump would be wise to watch Guatemala's run-off presidential election this weekend closely. This means Guatemala's next president may find themselves on the receiving end of immense pressure from the US president and his administration. Guatemala's next president will be tasked with overseeing the final implementation of a controversial agreement reached between Trump and his Guatemalan counterpart, outgoing President Jimmy Morales, in late July. Between 2008 and 2012, she served as Guatemala's first lady during the presidency of her husband, Alvaro Colom. He has described the outgoing Morales as irresponsible, but has not ruled out the asylum deal himself.
Guatemalans vote in close presidential runoff
This combination of file photos shows presidential candidate Sandra Torres in Villanueva, Guatemala, on June 14, 2019, and her opponent Alejandro Giammattei in Guatemala City on June 13, 2019. Guatemalans go the polls Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019,GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemalans voted Sunday in a presidential runoff pitting former first lady Sandra Torres against conservative Alejandro Giammattei in a nation beset by poverty and unemployment, and dealing with migration issues. Polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. local time and close at 6:00 p.m., with preliminary results expected by late Sunday. And whoever wins, should focus on crime and employment, to keep more Guatemalans from going to the United States, Estrada added. Sundays winner will take office on Jan. 14 and be tasked with attempting to stem the large flow of migrants headed toward the United States.