Allegations of Electoral Court Bribery Fuel Doubts about Legitimacy of Guatemalan Election

Johan Ordóñez


Friday, June 23, 2023
José Luis Sanz and Roman Gressier

El Faro is an investigative newsroom that shines a light on corruption in Central America.

It was Giammattei’s closest operator who broke the news.

On Wednesday Miguel Martínez spoke to journalists about an explosive New York Times report: that Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) magistrate Blanca Alfaro went to the U.S. Embassy last year and presented “a cash package” —50,000 quetzales; about $6,000 USD— that he allegedly gave her and other magistrates on behalf of President Alejandro Giammattei.

In a Samuel Alito-style move, Martínez tried to head off the article, published Thursday night: “When the investigation comes out, don’t be surprised,” he said. The article cited a U.S. official and a source present in the meeting, both anonymous. “This is something malicious that they’re doing in order to destabilize the elections,” said Martínez.

El Faro English has received separate confirmation by three sources that the Embassy meeting happened. One of them, present at the meeting, sets the date as March 22, 2022. Another asserts that Alfaro intended for the embassy to keep the money as supposed proof of the bribe, but that the U.S. officials refused.

The account that Giammattei has quite literally put cash on the table at the TSE has circulated for months in Guatemala City and Washington, D.C. In a February radio interview, former president of Congress and current opposition legislator Mario Taracena said: “the TSE receives monthly cash under the table, and that’s something I’ve never seen in my life. Now they have a monthly stipend and that’s why they listen to the president.”

More:
https://elfaro.net/en/202306/centroamerica/26904/allegations-of-electoral-court-bribery-fuel-doubts-about-legitimacy-of-guatemalan-election





Guatemalan President Giammattei and Attorney General of Guatemala, Consuelo Porras