Q24N (EFE) The United States announced on Monday that it banned the entry of 300 Guatemalans, including 100 members of Congress, for “undermining democracy” in the Central American country.
The spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Matthew Miller, condemned in a statement “the antidemocratic actions” of the Public Ministry of Guatemala against the elected president of the country, Bernardo Arévalo de León.
Miller gave as examples the arrest warrants against election workers, the request to lift Arévalo’s immunity from prosecution and the attempts to overturn the election results.
According to the Joe Biden Administration, all of these actions demonstrate the “clear intention to delegitimize” the elections and “prevent” Arévalo’s inauguration in January, and represent a violation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
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The visa restriction on 300 Guatemalans seeks to “promote accountability for corrupt and undemocratic actors in Guatemala and support the will of the Guatemalan people,” Miller explained.
The State Department did not list the identities of any of the 300 sanctioned, including the 100 of the 160 legislators that make up the Guatemalan Congress.
“The Guatemalan people have spoken. Their voices must be respected,” stressed the spokesperson.
On December 1, the United States sanctioned Luis Miguel Martínez Morales, a very close collaborator of the outgoing president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, for corruption.
The Public Ministry of Guatemala, whose leadership is also sanctioned by the U.S., has been accused of trying to prevent the progressive politician Arévalo de León.