The Diplomat
The Spanish government yesterday congratulated Bernardo Arévalo on his victory in the second round of Guatemala’s presidential elections and defended that his victory cannot be violated, after the country’s electoral justice system suspended his party, Movimiento Semilla.
Although the run-off between the leftist Arévalo and former first lady Sandra Torres was held on 20 August, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) waited until Monday to announce the official result.
The decision came just minutes after the TSE’s Citizens’ Registry announced the suspension of the winner’s party for allegedly paying for the signatures needed to become a party for the presidential elections.
The foreign ministry said yesterday it was “concerned about the decisions that led to the suspension of the Seed Movement party“. The electoral triumph of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo should not be violated,” it said, nor should “the plurality of political parties and the functioning of the democratic state and the rule of law” in Guatemala be “limited.
In its communiqué, the foreign ministry congratulated ‘the Guatemalan people for the peaceful and democratic exercise of their right to vote‘, as well as Arévalo himself ‘for the results achieved’ and his election to lead Guatemala for the next few years.
The Spanish government underlined “its willingness to maintain the fruitful cooperation with the president elected by the Guatemalan people and to continue deepening the broad ties that unite Spain and Guatemala to build together a future of prosperity and stability”.
