Bernardo Arévalo, the winner of the elections in Guatemala, has confirmed that there is a plan to assassinate him before he is sworn in as president on January 14. After sweeping the presidential elections last Sunday, the progressive Arévalo and members of his Semilla party have been the target of two attempted attacks and have received threats to outlaw their political movement.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), attached to the Organization of American States (OAS) has published a 21-page plan in which various members of criminals plan to prevent the new president from taking power. Both Arévalo’s team and the international organization have revealed that multiple state officials fear that the candidate will reach the presidential seat.
The IACHR cites two plans against the life of Arévalo and his vice president, Karin Herrera, one of them organized by Guatemalan prosecutors, without giving further details. The international organization has asked the State of Guatemala to implement more extreme security measures to guarantee the safety of the candidates. In response, the government said in a statement that it has provided “all necessary protective measures.”
In its report, the IACHR indicates that politicians have been victims of “surveillance, surveillance, and death threats” that have increased “after the second round of elections.” According to the institution, the winners “are in a serious and urgent situation.” In addition, Arévalo’s team has denounced having received “worrying information about a plan to assassinate him, with the participation of state agents and private individuals,” and they have requested official protection for the candidate.
The international organization has announced in a statement that they will grant security measures to protect the candidate and his elected vice president, Karin Herrera. Semilla and her leader Arévalo, a former diplomat, won the runoff election by a landslide against her opponent, conservative Sandra Torres. However, before the presidential elections last Sunday, the candidate already predicted that he expected the current government to prevent him from reaching the presidency.
According to Guatemalan sources and statements by Arévalo and his party, after confirming his electoral victory on August 20, four prosecutors from the country’s Attorney General’s Office demanded to have a private meeting with the president-elect. The Prosecutor’s Office informed Arévalo that he had obtained “privileged information, related to criminal gang structures, which could put his life at risk.” According to the IACHR, the plan to assassinate the progressive candidate dates back to July 4 of this year, after the candidate’s victory in the first round of the presidential elections.
That said, a letter signed by prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, an official known for indicting members of the country’s ‘opposition’, was published on Thursday, where he once again ordered the suspension of the Semilla party. According to local sources, this sentence could allow Arévalo not to reach the presidency, and his position would be transferred to Torres, the second-place candidate.
Since last July 12, three weeks after the first round, the country’s Prosecutor’s Office has ordered the suspension of the political party. However, the ruling was annulled by the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala and the body allowed Semilla to participate in the second round of elections. The Prosecutor’s Office continues to accuse the party and its members of an alleged case of false signatures in 2018, when the party was founded.
However, Arévalo and his team have denied the accusations and plan to become president as the results of the last election day dictated. According to the new president’s statements to the foreign media, the accusations against his party are a strategy to prevent his arrival at the presidential palace next year.
