PBI-Guatemala shares statement from Indigenous ancestral authorities on the arrest of K’iche’ leader Luis Pacheco
Photo of Luis Pacheco by Emmanuel Andrés/Prensa Comunitaria.
PBI-Guatemala has shared a statement/official communication from Indigenous and ancestral authorities of the original peoples of Guatemala that is a “condemnation and rejection of the criminalization, arrest of authorities and leaders who defended democracy.”
The Associated Press reports: “Guatemalan authorities on Wednesday [April 23] arrested [Luis Pacheco] an Indigenous leader of nationwide protests in 2023 that sought to ensure then President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s transition to power while also demanding the resignation of the country’s attorney general.”
That article continues: “The Attorney General’s Office [Consuelo Porras] accuses Luis Pacheco, now serving in Arévalo’s government [as the Deputy Minister for Sustainable Development], of terrorism and illicit association, according to an official who requested anonymity to speak about a case under seal.”
AP also explains: “In October 2023, Pacheco led an alliance of 48 Indigenous communities in peaceful protests that shut down highways across Guatemala for three weeks. Despite Arévalo’s resounding victory that August, the Attorney General’s Office continued to investigate the election and members of his party, accusing them among other things of improperly gathering signatures required for the party to form. Attorney General Consuelo Porras has been the focus of much of that ire as she has refused to step down or halt her investigations into Arévalo’s party.”
The Spanish news agency EFE adds: “The attempts led by Porras through the Attorney General’s Office were considered a coup by the Organization of American States and the European Union.
That article also notes: “[Pacheco] was arrested in a raid on his home in Guatemala City by the Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime and handed over to the judicial authorities, according to the National Civil Police (PNC).”
Commenting on the arrest of Pacheco, Guatemalan president Bernardo Arevalo stated at a press conference: “We are outraged as a government, we are outraged as citizens, because what is happening is an attack against democracy, on the resistance fight that the people made in 2023 to prevent these criminals from stealing the elections and mocking the popular will.”
And Agence France-Presse notes: “Arevalo has accused attorney general Consuelo Porras – who is sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for corruption – of seeking to overthrow him.”
We continue to follow this with concern.
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