The World Briefly

May 29, 2023

Cutting the Odds

Guatemala

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Guatemala’s Constitutional Court ruled Friday to end the election campaign of top presidential contender Carlos Pineda, a verdict that came just a month before voting begins, Al Jazeera reported.

The top court upheld a ruling from a lower court that found Pineda failed to gather signatures from party delegates and file financial reports as required in the nomination process.

The conservative candidate criticized the verdict and accused the court of endorsing “election fraud.”

Pineda – who appeared as the frontrunner in one poll – is the third candidate to be disqualified from the June 25 presidential elections. The others included conservative Roberto Arzú and left-leaning Indigenous candidate Thelma Cabrera.

Cabrera’s case attracted international attention after a court ruled that she could not register for elections because her running mate, former human rights official Jordán Rodas, was deemed ineligible. Rodas had allegedly failed to produce a letter confirming he had no legal proceedings pending against him.

Human rights groups have decried the disqualifications as politically motivated, the latest accusations against the government of outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei.

The government has also come under fire for stifling dissent, including harassing journalists.

Meanwhile, officials have launched investigations against officials and legal specialists with links to the now-shuttered International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, an independent, United Nations-backed organization aimed at rooting out corruption in the country.

Around 30 figures, including judges and prosecutors, have fled the country to avoid prosecution.

This story originally appeared in the May 29, 2023 newsletter, Russian Reveille.