The Public Ministry of Guatemala has assured this Friday that The elections won this year by the elected president, Bernardo Arévalo de León, are not valid for alleged administrative irregularities of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The accusation has generated criticism from different countries and international leaders, including the Organization of American States (OAS), which has described it as an “attempted coup d’état.” For his part, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has shown his “most absolute rejection of the actions” of the Prosecutor’s Office.

The Prosecutor’s Office, whom Arévalo de León accused last September of carrying carried out a “coup d’état”“Against him, he has indicated that the electoral records used in the elections”are null and void” since “they were not authorized” initially by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The invalidation of the electoral results was presented by prosecutor Leonor Morales, at a press conference, who indicated that the elections for president, deputies, mayor and deputies to the Central American Parliament.

As a reason for the annulment of the elections, Morales has stated that there is an administrative irregularity, since the electoral records used are not those originally approved by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. “The formats used were not those approved by the plenary session of magistrates,” stated Morales, who added that the votes “are null and void.” The lawyer and elected representative of the Semilla Movement, Andrea Zeceña, has warned that the Public Ministry ““has no authority” to declare the elections null and void.

The Public Ministry has also initiated a new case against Arévalo de Leónrelated to the constitution and financing of the Semilla Movement party, and has requested the withdrawal of his immunity. Since he surprisingly won the Guatemalan presidential election on June 25, the Public Ministry, led by Attorney General Consuelo Porras, has tried on several occasions to reverse the verdict of the polls. The actions of the Prosecutor’s Office motivated that on July 12, the United States sanction the leadership of the Public Ministry Guatemalan for corruption

For its part, the Supreme Electoral Court of Guatemala this Friday guaranteed the victory as president of Bernardo Arévalo de León, despite the statements of the Public Ministry. The president of the electoral court, Blanca Alfaro, indicated in a press conference that the results of the elections are signed and certified, although she also pointed out that a different ruling from the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, could annul her decision. “If they do not take possession, I reiterate, there would be a breakdown of the institutional order,” Alfaro has pointed out in reference to the possibility that the elections will be annulled and Arévalo de León will not be sworn in on January 14, as established in Guatemalan law.

OAS speaks of a “coup d’état”

The action of the Prosecutor’s Office was called by the Organization of American States (OAS) as a “Coup attempt“. Its General Secretariat has condemned the events and the attempt by prosecutors Rafael Curruchiche and Leonor Morales to annul the country’s general elections. In a statement, the office of the organization’s general secretary, Luis Almagro, has asked the president of the country , Alejandro Giammattei, to the Constitutional Court, to the Supreme Court of Justice and to Congress to act against the “perpetrators of this attack” to “defend the institutions and the constitutional order.” According to the General Secretariat, “the attempt to annul this year’s general elections constitutes the worst form of democratic breakdown and the consolidation of a political fraud against the will of the people“.

The Government of Spain has also “blatantly” rejected the actions carried out by the Public Ministry of Guatemala that “attack democracy” and represent “a serious violation of the will of the Guatemalan people freely expressed at the polls.” This was stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has also reacted with a message in “My support for the president-elect.”