Mexico sends message to Guatemala amid internal tension

The Government of Mexico, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), celebrated the decision of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala of make official the results of the presidential elections of June 25after which Sandra Torres- of the National Unity of Hope Party- and Bernardo Arévalo- of Movimiento Semilla- advanced to the second electoral round.

"Mexico wishes the people and the Government of Guatemala the greatest success in the ongoing electoral process, and is ready to work with whoever wins, to continue strengthening the bilateral relationship," read a tweet from the SRE.

This message comes just as Guatemala lives one of its politically tense moments of the present century.

The Government of Mexico is pleased with the decision of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala to make official the results of the presidential elections on June 25, where Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arévalo advanced to the second round.

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– Foreign Relations (@SRE_mx) July 13, 2023

Last Wednesday, the Public Ministry of Guatemala reported that A court authorized suspending the legal personality of the Semilla party por an alleged case of corruption.

The prosecutor of the Public Ministry of Guatemala, Rafael Curruchiche- sanctioned by the United States in 2022 for creating false cases against ex-authorities - said that the decision is due to a case called "Seed Corruption", for allegedly false signatures.

However, minutes later, the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal confirmed that the Semilla party and the National Unity of Hopea are the parties that go to the second electoral round in which the Presidency will be defined.

This Thursday, an unusual raid was carried out on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, by the Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor's Office). With which this body has opened the way even more to uncertainty, with the risk of completely squandering the rule of law, in the opinion of several experts.

"The country is in a clear coup situationwe must not use euphemisms ”, assured this Thursday the lawyer and former president of the Center for the Defense of the Constitution Alejandro Balsells, in statements to radio media.

Similarly, the media The time released an editorial this Thursday morning in which he recalled that "the reaction of the population, organized businessmen and the international community has been clear and categorical in the rejection of this new maneuver that constitutes a crude coup d'état”.

The elections of June 25 were won by former first lady Sandra Torres Casanova, of the National Unity of Hope (UNE), as all the surveys announced.

However, second place went to academic Bernardo Arevalo de Leon, of the social democratic group Semilla, whom the polls placed in seventh or eighth place.

Since then, the members of Semilla warned that they would come intentions to stop his candidacywith which he did not count "Covenant of Corrupt", as a group of politicians, businessmen, military and alleged drug traffickers have been called who have "co-opted the State" in the opinion of the group.

(With information from EFE)