The European Union (EU) imposed sanctions against several individuals from Guatemala last Friday due to their activities, which, according to a press release by the Council of the EU, “undermine[d] democracy, the rule of law or the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala.”
The imposition of sanctions followed a January 12 Council decision aimed to freeze the assets of those “responsible for, engaging in, providing support to, or benefiting from, actions that undermine democracy, the rule of law or the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala.”
The sanctioned individuals include the Attorney General of Guatemala María Consuelo Porras Argueta De Porres, Angel Arnoldo Pineda Ávila, José Rafael Curruchiche Cucul, and Leonor Eugenia Morales Lazo De Sánchez, who are three Guatemalan prosecutors, and Judge Fredy Raúl Orellana Letona.
Newly inaugurated Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, who took office in mid-January after a failed coup d’état and alleged politically-motivated raids on party headquarters, has also come under scrutiny. Criticism from the Organization of American States (OAS) of these raids factored into the EU’s decision to impose sanctions. Most of those sanctioned were targeted for what the EU termed “spurious investigations targeting the Supreme Electoral Tribunal” and “efforts to overturn the results of the 2023 elections in Guatemala.”
The US had already sanctioned three prosecutors and restricted them from obtaining US visas for their engagement in politically-motivated investigations and casting public doubt on the election results in December. Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, also criticised Guatemalan prosecutors for their attempts to “undercut the general election results” in December.