After the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) warned of a “high risk” of attacks against the elected president of Guatemala Bernardo Arévalo and his vice president Karine Herrera, the country’s authorities assured that they had reinforced the security of the progressive leader. However, the government of the current head of state Alejandro Giammattei urged the IACHR to lower its tone and express “prudence” after assuring that his alert is “unfounded.”
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The warning from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights about an alleged plan to attack Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arévalo did not go unnoticed by the current government.
This Friday, August 25, the Administration led by Alejandro Giammattei called on the entity to which the Organization of American States (OAS) belongs to be “prudent” in its assertions.
“We call on the IACHR for prudence. It is necessary for the commission to pronounce objectively and guarantee impartiality due to the consequences that unfounded statements can generate,” the national government stated.
However, the authorities reported that they reinforced the security of Arévalo, who won the Presidency with the promise of a frontal fight against corruption.
“The alleged plans to attempt against the lives (of Arévalo and Herrera) were known on August 20 (…) Which immediately allowed for the necessary coordination with the General Directorate of the PNC (National Civil Police) to effect to provide greater security measures,” the statement said.
The IACHR’s warnings about the safety of the president-elect
The reaction of the Guatemalan Executive takes place after the IACHR granted precautionary measures to protect “the rights to life and personal integrity” of Arévalo de León and his vice president Karin Herrera, after they received threats.
In the document presented by the IACHR on Thursday, August 24, the “surveillance, monitoring, smear campaigns and death threats”, which increased after the first round in June, against the winner of last Sunday’s elections. Two complaints even refer to possible plans to attack him.
One of them, according to the Arévalo security team, involves “state agents and private individuals.” The second, denounced the leader of the Seed Movement himself, before the Public Ministry, is linked to alleged “criminal gang structures.”
Given this scenario, the IACHR pointed out that the State has not acted appropriately by imposing the necessary measures to safeguard the well-being of the next president of Guatemala, who had to – along with his running mate – appeal to private security to protect himself.
Arévalo’s electoral path has been rocky. In July, after agreeing to the ballot against former first lady Sandra Torres, the Public Ministry, an entity whose leadership is sanctioned by the United States, tried to block the candidacy of the representative of the Seed Movement due to alleged irregularities in the collection of signatures to constitute the bench. policy.
The attempts to dilute the movement with which Arévalo reaches the Executive do not stop. On August 18, just two days before the ballot, the head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (Feci), of the Public Ministry of Guatemala, Rafael Curruchiche, indicated that he did not rule out searches and arrest warrants against members of Semilla after the second round.
Against this background, the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antony Guterres, expressed this Friday his “concern” about the “attempts to undermine” the electoral results that gave the victory to Bernardo Arévalo.
With EFE and local media
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