Ricardo Méndez Ruiz, president of the Foundation against Terrorism, reported this Sunday, August 4, that he filed a complaint against the President of the Republic, Bernardo Arévalo De León, for the crimes of abuse of authority, influence peddling and failure to fulfill duties, for seeking to benefit his campaign financiers.
The action is a consequence of the “supposed payment mechanism” that architect Jazmín De la Vega, former Minister of Communications, refused to carry out and cancel the debt owed to a group of builders that Arévalo De León sought to favor. She refused to follow that request and was therefore dismissed, says Mendez Ruiz through a video posted on the social network X.
As part of the evidence presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP), the president of the Foundation against Terrorism mentions the delivery of Five sheets with the names of suppliers and the signature of Arévalo De Leónin his capacity as President of Guatemala.
With these documents, he claims, De la Vega was intended to “illegally” make payments to the suppliers with whom the president “had a political debt”, since they would have financed his political campaign during the second round of elections on August 20, 2023.
In the video, Méndez Ruiz calls on the Attorney General of the Nation, Consuelo Porras, to process the complaint quickly, so that Arevalo De León can answer to justice for the three crimes mentioned.
#URGENT
A new request for impeachment was filed against Bernardo Arévalo for the crimes of abuse of authority, violation of the Constitution and influence peddling, for attempting to benefit his campaign financiers. pic.twitter.com/Ugdni7sSIF— Ricardo Mendez Ruiz (@RMendezRuiz) August 4, 2024
Amparo action
On the other hand, on Saturday it was revealed that the Foundation Against Terrorism filed an Amparo action in favor of the MP and the Constitutional Court (CC), and against Arévalo De León; the Minister of Defense, Henry David Sáenz Ramos; the Minister of the Interior, Francisco Jiménez, and the Director of the National Civil Police, Henry David Sáenz Ramos.
According to the document, the legal action was filed in response to “the real and imminent threat” that Arévalo De León “violates the separation of functions of the State agencies and their independence, as well as the defense of the constitutional order and judicial independence of the Constitutional Court and the functional autonomy of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.”
This is “through the abusive and arbitrary use of public force, taking up arms or issuing illegal orders to use any other violent means to attack the Republican, Democratic or Representative system of the Republic of Guatemala.”
The actions brought by Mendez Ruiz come after turbulent days between the Executive and the MP.
While the Government criticized the actions of the MP related to the alleged seizure of the Electoral Registry, the Attorney General, María Consuelo Porras, filed a due process in the CC, so that a provisional injunction that was granted on May 8 in favor of the Attorney General’s Office is complied with, in which it is ordered that the Executive avoid actions “that tend to restrict the functional and economic autonomy of the Public Ministry.”
In addition to asking that cFour officials are removed from their posts and that President Bernardo Arévalo be investigated.
While the Executive responded with a request for impeachment against Porras, and before the CC, a request to revoke the provisional protection granted to the head of the MP.
Following the actions presented by Mendez Ruiz this weekend, the Presidency was asked to make a statement on the matter, but has not responded.
This is not the first request for protection that has been filed against Arévalo De León, since last May Miguel Estuardo Barrios Martínez, an officer with the rank of colonel in the Infantry, with a diploma in the General Staff, filed an action in the CC considering illegalities in possible promotions in the Guatemalan Army.
#URGENT
The Foundation Against Terrorism filed an Amparo action on behalf of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Constitutional Court, in view of an imminent breach of the constitutional order by Bernardo Arévalo in complicity with the Ministers of Defense and the Interior. pic.twitter.com/xChv7zvwaZ— Ricardo Mendez Ruiz (@RMendezRuiz) August 4, 2024
Statements from the MP and the Government
The actions against President Arévalo take place in a context of confrontations and accusations that the Public Prosecutor’s Office has had with officials of the Government of the Republic.
Arévalo and officials have accused prosecutor Porras of not investigating cases of corruption that they have reported.
In addition, prosecutor Porras and her staff have accused Arévalo officials of having committed crimes by providing information on the Seed Corruption case, for which proceedings were carried out in the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
The accusations also reached the electoral president, Blanca Alfaro, who has also participated in the controversy that is taking place in the national political arena.
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