Guatemala's President-elect Faces Threats to Democracy and Immunity

Guatemala's President-elect Bernardo Arevalo has strongly criticized a legal move by prosecutors to invalidate his election victory, calling it a "perverse" and "attempted coup." Arevalo and his center-left Seed Movement party have faced investigations alleging irregularities in the party's registration. The U.S. and other Western countries have supported Arevalo, accusing the probes of being a coordinated effort to undermine him and democracy in Guatemala. The head of Guatemala's top electoral court has declared that the election results are unalterable and that preventing Arevalo from taking office would constitute a break in the constitutional order. The government of outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei stated that the transition to Arevalo is inevitable. The Organization of American States condemned the move as an "attempted coup d'etat," while the U.S. assistant secretary of state warned of consequences and a strong U.S. response.