The National Unity of Hope (UNE) party has called upon Guatemalan authorities to investigate last week's presidential election, citing alleged irregularities. UNE is led by former first lady Sandra Torres, who lost the race to leftist challenger Bernardo Arévalo. (Jurist)

Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arévalo said Sept. 12 he is temporarily suspending the transition process and called for the resignation of the attorney general following raids on electoral facilities during which government agents opened boxes of votes and photographed their contents, in what experts called an unprecedented violation of the law.

Arévalo said he had notified outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, who just a day earlier had promised a smooth handover of power, and would only return to the process when the necessary conditions were met. (AP)

The Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Guatemala expressed "great concern" over a new raid carried out at the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) in Guatemala City on Sept. 29. This was the fifth such operation conducted by the Public Prosecutor's Office since the elections, and was carried out "without due cause, violating the functions, independence and autonomy of the electoral body."

Guatemala's new president, Bernardo Arévalo, was inaugurated Jan. 15 after an initial ceremony the day before was interrupted by what international observers called an "orchestrated coup d’état."

The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, read a statement during the crisis, called for the Congress of Guatemala "to fulfill its mandate to hand over power as required by the Constitution."

The insurrection proved to be short-lived, despite videos shared on social media showing lawmakers locked into a room by members of the coup group. Bu the next morning it was announced that the coup plotters, a group derided as te "Pacto de Corruptos," had failed. The Guatemalan congress would sit to inaugurate Arévalo.

Just hours later, footage emerged on social media of one of the coup plotters, deputy Manuel de Jesús Rivera, being aggressively heckled by members of the public, gathered to await the inauguration of their newly-elected President.

Arévalo, a known anti-corruption advocate, was locked in a contentious battle with prosecutors leading up to and following his first and second-round election victories in late 2023. The Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s office attempted to have Arévalo's first-round victory invalidated, although that move was quickly rejected by the country's electoral court.

In September 2023, the OAS formally warned the Public Prosecutor's office against interfering in the ongoing election and said, "The actions of the Public Prosecutor's Office are an intolerable violation of Guatemala's Constitution."

By December, US officials announced a series of sanctions against three Guatemalan prosecutors and a judge, who were alleged to have "orchestrat[ed] politically motivated investigations aimed at casting doubt on certified election outcomes, ultimately disrupting the presidential transition."

USAID administrator Samantha Power congratulated Arévalo and the institutions of Guatemalan democracy. "Last night’s inauguration was a testament to the determination and conviction of the Guatemalan people to make their voices heard and tirelessly defend their democracy," said Power. (Jurist)

On Jan. 11, in the prelude to the crisis, the Public Prosecutor's office arrested Napoleón Barrientos, a former interior minister, on the grounds that he had refused to use force to maintain order in October against protesters demanding the prosecutor general's resignation. (NYT)

The European Union on Feb. 2 imposed sanctions against five individuals from Guatemala that "undermine[d] democracy, the rule of law or the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala," according to a press release by the Council of the EU. (Jurist)