Indigenous Authorities Call for Sanctions on Corrupt Actors in Guatemala
Below: Letter to international community from indigenous authorities
Indigenous authorities leading pro-democracy protests in Guatemala call for sanctions on "corrupt actors that make up the anti-democratic structure".
The list of corrupt actors attempting to overthrow the elections/ block the January 14, 2023 transition of government, is far broader than just 3 or 4 people ...
Day 15 - Nationwide pro-democracy strike
2 months, 28 days until Jan.14, 2024 transfer of power
This is far from over
Guatemala, October 3, 2023
Your Excellencies
United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office in Guatemala
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala
Organization of American States
Ambassadors/Ambassadors
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, United States, Uruguay, Delegation of the European Union in Guatemala, United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden, Russia, France, Germany, Spain.
Subject: Persistent attacks against democracy in Guatemala
Dear Sirs and Madams,
We, the ancestral and Indigenous organizations and authorities, representing communities, peoples and organizations of Guatemala, recognize and value the work carried out by the Electoral Observation Missions of the Organization of American States and the European Union for the first and second round of elections, which they certified as transparent, peaceful and orderly.
We appreciate the follow-up to the situation in Guatemala, which led the European Parliament to issue a resolution condemning the country for the persecution being carried out by Attorney General Consuelo Porras and the Supreme Court of Justice against the electoral process and against justice operators [judges, prosecutors, lawyers].
During the electoral process in our country, we have observed the insistence of the judiciary [administration of justice], especially the Public Prosecutor’s Office and its Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity (FECI), in trying to criminalize the President-elect, the political party Movimiento Semilla (that won him the presidency), members of the Semilla party, magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and all those who participated in the electoral process and who protected and guaranteed the legality of the elections.
As Indigenous peoples and communities, we view with great concern the most recent criminalization actions against TSE personnel with the purpose of undermining the electoral process, violating the magistrates who have been at the head of an electoral process that, although it began with difficulties, has guaranteed the respect and fulfillment of the will of the people expressed in the ballot box.
These actions jeopardize the electoral process, a fundamental pillar of democracy. The Inter-American Democratic Charter establishes that democracy is essential for the social, political, and economic development of the peoples of the Americas. Both the Charter and multiple international instruments ensure that representative democracy is the basis of the rule of law and constitutional regimes, which is why we have organized ourselves to resist the attempt of corrupt actors to break the constitutional order.
For these reasons, recognizing and thanking the effort made by your countries to denounce these violations, we request that the Democratic Charter be invoked in Guatemala to reestablish the democratic order.
We also request the imposition of sanctions on the corrupt actors that make up the anti-democratic structure and that intend to take away our little democracy, sanctioning the funds they may have in their banks, declaring them unwelcome, withdrawing their visas or permits to enter your territories, including in the sanctions the following people:
Supreme Court Justices
Silvia Patricia Valdes Quezada
Nery Osvaldo Medina Mendez
Blanca Aida Stalling Davilla
Manuel Reginaldo Duarte Barrera
Silvia Veronica Garcia Molina
Jose Antonio Pineda Barales
Vitalina Orellana Y Orellana
Managers of the Supreme Court of Justice
Marta Esther Castro Castro
Alba Ruth Sandoval Guerra
Court of Appeals Magistrates
Carlos Rodemiro Lucero Paiz
Manfredo Alberto López Fuentes
Artemio Rodulfo Tanchez Merida
Elvia Ester Velazquez Sagastume
Wilber Estuardo Castellanos Venegas
Flor de Maria Galvez Barrios
Rosa Mariela Josabeth Rivera Acevedo
Mario Obdulio Reyes Aldana
Cesar Augusto Lopez Lopez
Igmain Galicia Pimentel
Cesar Augusto Aviña Aparicio
Herman Rigoberto Teni Paca
Dixon Diaz Mendoza
Benicia Contreras Calderon
Sonia Doradea Guerra
Maria de la Luz Gómez Mejia
Carlos Ronaldo Paiz Xula
Mario Obdulio Reyes Aldana
Carlos Ramiro Contreras Valenzuela
Doris Lucrecia Alonzo Hidalgo
Anabella Esmeralda Cardona Cambara
Harold Estuardo Ortiz Perez
Judges
Fredy Raul Orellana Letona
Jimi Rodolfo Bremer Ramirez
Victor Manuel Cruz Rivera
Geisler Smaille Perez Dominguez
Segio Rene Mena Samayoa
Members of the Congress of the Republic
Manuel Conde Orellana
Allan Estuardo Rodriguez Reyes
Shirley Joanna Rivera Zaldaña
Carlos Napoleon Rojas Alarcon
Boris Roberto España Caceres
Anibal Rojas Espino
Constitutional Court Magistrates
Nester Mauricio Vasquez Pimentel
Leyla Susana Lemus Arriaga
Roberto Molina Barreto
Dina Josefina Ochoa Escriba
Claudia Elizabeth Paniagua Perez
Rony Eulalio Lopez
Public Prosecutor's Office
Fiscal General, Maria Consuelo Porras Argueta
Jefe de la Fiscalía Especial Contra la Impunidad, Jose Rafael Curruchiche Cucul
La Fiscal Regional de la Región Nororiente, Cinthia Edelmira Monterroso Gomez
We also request sanctions against the businessmen financing this coup d'état, mainly through organizations such as the Foundation Against Terrorism, which should be urgently declared as a terrorist organization that is undermining democracy in the country.
More information
Rights Action’s “Guatemala Election Watch” alerts (www.rightsaction.org/emails)
Guatemala Human Rights Commission (www.ghrc-usa.org)
Twitter feeds of Festivales Solidarios (@festivalesgt) & Prensa Comunitaria (@PrensaCommunitar)
Prensa Comunitaria’s daily news (https://prensacomunitaria.org/)
Electoral coup d’etat: ‘Death by a 1000 cuts’
It is impossible to keep up with the attacks being carried out, daily, by the ‘covenant of the corrupt’ government and allies on the electoral process and against the Semilla Party – a ‘death by a 1000 cuts’ strategy, let alone increasing repression against protesters, judges, lawyers and prosecutors.
Rights Action calls for Americans and Canadians to keep sharing these informations widely (including media outlets), and to contact your Senators, Members of Congress and Parliamentarian, urge them to publicly support the Semilla Party and President-elect Bernardo Arevalo and VP-elect Karin Herrera, and to support calls for the main coup plotters to resign: Attorney General Consuelo Porras, special prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, Judge Fredy Orellana.
U.S. Senate: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact
U.S. House: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Canadian Parliament: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Parliamentarians/en/members