Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office: Presidential Election ‘Null and Void’

Since his surprise victory in a run-off election in August, Arevalo, who is due to take office on January 14, has faced a series of legal challenges, including attempts to suspend his political party and prevent him from taking power.

Arevalo’s triumph and his promise to fight corruption in Guatemala are worrying the political elite.

Prosecutor Leonor Morales said on Friday that the elections of Arevalo, his deputy and members of parliament were “null and void” due to counting anomalies.

In Washington, the Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) said in a statement that it “condemns the attempt by the Guatemalan prosecutor’s office to carry out a coup d’état.”

It added that “the attempt to nullify this year’s general elections is the worst form of democratic failure and the entrenchment of political fraud against the will of the people”.

The OAS called on outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, the constitutional and supreme courts and Congress “to defend the country’s institutions and constitutional order by taking action against the perpetrators of this attack to preserve democracy in Guatemala.”