This Wednesday, September 13, during the plenary session of the European Parliament, the situation in Guatemala was discussed due to the latest actions of the Public Ministry (MP) in relation to the electoral process. Thirteen deputies spoke and asked for a resolution to be approved, which will be voted on Thursday the 14th.
For this reason, all the deputies who participated in the debate asked the European Union to establish a position and support the results made official by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
Many of the deputies who appeared in parliament participated as delegates of the Electoral Observation Mission (EU-EOM), led by Spanish deputy Jordi Cañas.
Because of this, they pointed out that the sessions were transparent and the citizens expressed their will in the polls, as shown in the MOE report.
Commercial suspension request
Leopoldo López Gil, of the European People’s Party, joined the debate justifying that the jurisdiction of the Supreme Electoral Court was violated by the actions of the MP by not accepting the victory of Bernardo Arévalo and Karin Herrera.
Also from the European People’s Party, Seán Kelly, hopes that the EU can cooperate with Arévalo and the justice system to fight corruption.
Among the requests shared by parliamentarians, Miguel Urbán Crespo, from the Left group of the European Parliament, asked for diplomatic pressure on Guatemala to stop the actions they condemn.
“We need to have a clear position, we need to take all the diplomatic pressure we can, including the temporary suspension of trade, on the agreements signed by the countries of the European Union,” he warned.
He added that the situation is not new in the country, but the result of cooperation between power and democracy.
Antony Comín, an independent deputy, also joined the request for economic sanctions if the actions of the MP regarding the process and its results continue.
“It is very urgent that the commission proposes to the council to change the EU penal regime, to include corruption as a sanctionable case and that prosecutors who attack democracy are prosecuted without delay, ” he said.
Positions
Mónica González of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group asked for consistency in the face of the fact that it finances the EU-EOM and that in reports it supports the electoral process and its results, while condemning the judicial actions that brought. from last Tuesday at the Electoral Process Operations Center (Cope).
“The EU has invested resources in the EOM, so the position must be without doubt, respecting the will of the Guatemalans,” the MEP pointed out.
Likewise, he requested that technical cooperation in security, foreign policy, and management be increased, not only in Guatemala, but in the Central American region.
Alicia Homs Ginel, from the same group, also joined the discussion and described the raids coordinated by Rafael Curruchiche as “unacceptable.”
The Portuguese MEP, Maria Manuel de Lemos Leitão Marques, also from the same political alliance, stated that the reputation of Guatemala could be improved and that during the Observation Mission he was aware of the concern that the elected that authority cannot sit.
“We have to be careful what happens in Guatemala at the end of the electoral process,” he added.
The EU-EOM had almost 100 observers during the electoral process, of which 40 have remained since the start of the country’s process.
Izaskun Bilbao spoke from the group Renew Europe, indicating that the refusal of the National Union of Hope (UNE) party to accept the results, the arrest of legal operators and the persecution of Movimeinto Semilla are “worrying that symptoms.”
He added: “The end of the actions as reported is to respect the freely expressed will of the citizens of Guatemala.”
Likewise, he added that the will expressed by President Alejandro Giammattei to implement the transfer of power to the elected duo is supported.
They will issue a statement
The debate took place before the parliamentarians voted to approve the resolution as a body.
This resolution mentions seven important points, among which is that “the situation in Guatemala will continue to be monitored until there are clear and serious guarantees that the popular will expressed through elections will be respected”; and urges the authorities to implement the subsequent recommendations of the EOM.
In addition, they called to remember the respect for the independence of the judiciary, political pluralism and freedom of expression, as well as the integrity of the electoral process.
Among other points, concern was expressed about election interference. The statement will be sent to the United Nations, the Organization of American States and the Central American Parliament.
