US slams raid on Guatemalan anti-graft party offices

[Judi Lynn]

By Sofia Menchu and Matt Spetalnick
July 21, 20236:21 PM CDT
Updated 2 hours ago

GUATEMALA CITY/WASHINGTON July 21 (Reuters) - Guatemalan presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo called a Friday police raid on his party headquarters a "corrupt" show of political persecution just a month before a high-stakes run-off election, as the U.S. and EU echoed his condemnation.

Police raided the offices of Arevalo's center-left Semilla party, the attorney general's office announced, saying it was carrying out a July 12 court order that had canceled the group's legal status.

In a post on Twitter, Arevalo called the raid a "flagrant demonstration of the political persecution we have denounced." The presidential hopeful has blamed the police action on a "corrupt minority" but did not go into further detail.

A senior Biden administration official described the raid as representing "authoritarian practices" and a violation of democratic norms by Guatemala's public ministry.

. . .

The senior U.S. official said the U.S. was closely monitoring the lead-up to the run-off and would host Arevalo and his opponent, former first lady Sandra Torres, for talks in Washington next week to show support for free and fair elections.

The official said Washington had been in close contact with the Guatemalan government about the concerns of U.S. President Joe Biden's administration and was also consulting with international partners.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/guatemalan-police-raid-party-offices-presidential-candidate-arevalo-2023-07-21/