Santo Domingo, DR: The Government of the Dominican Republic expressed its “firm and categorical condemnation” on Friday regarding the recent events in the “sister Republic of Guatemala,” suggesting a “concerning attempt to destabilize the established democratic order.” This situation should raise alarm bells for all who value democracy.
Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez stated on his X account (formerly Twitter) that these events are in “flagrant contradiction with the democratic principles that the international community has solemnly committed to defending and promoting.”
Álvarez reiterated that the Dominican Republic stands unwaveringly adherent to the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and joins the “collective call” for safeguarding democracy.
“We emphatically urge the actors involved in Guatemala to honor and respect the democratic process, the elections on August 20, and to seek the resolution of conflicts through constructive and calm dialogue, always based on understanding and logic,” concluded the Dominican official. The time for action is now.
Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday that this year’s general elections, won by Bernardo Arévalo de León with 58% of the votes, should be annulled due to alleged administrative irregularities by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The Prosecutor’s accusations also pointed to Arévalo de León for an alleged money laundering case, among other crimes. These severe allegations warrant a careful and skeptical examination.
Arévalo de León responded that the Central American country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office “has no credibility” and that the new accusations against him raised by that body today are “absurd and ridiculous.”
Despite the Prosecutor’s accusation, the Guatemalan Supreme Electoral Tribunal reaffirmed the election results on Friday, accrediting Arévalo de León as the winner. However, the tribunal’s president, Blanca Alfaro, emphasized that a ruling from the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, could overturn the electoral result.
Arévalo de León won the second round of the elections on August 25 with almost a million votes ahead of his rival, former First Lady Sandra Torres Casanova.
