Guatemala Human Rights Update

President Bernardo Arévalo

[The following excerpts are taken from an April 11, 2025 “Update on Recent Developments in Guatemala issued by the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA. Politics in Guatemala are sharply divided between president Bernardo Arévalo and institutions supporting the former rightwing administration —ed.]

GUATEMALA IS SUBJECT, like the majority of its neighbors in the region, to the new U.S. tariff plan imposed by President Trump on April 5th. Under the plan, Guatemalan products entering the United States will be hit with a ten percent tariff. According to Guatemalan analysts, the new tariffs will hit three sectors especially hard: textiles, bananas and coffee.

Guatemalan business leaders have asked Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo to “urgently obtain the exclusion of Guatemala from the plan of ten percent universal tariffs.” The tariffs put additional pressure on the Arévalo administration, which has tried to maintain favor with Guatemala’s business sector while at the same time attempting to address inequality and corruption.

UN Human Rights Report

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its latest report on the human rights situation in Guatemala emphasizes persistent challenges in access to justice and the erosion of judicial independence. Key concerns include persistent barriers to justice, threats to judicial independence, and ongoing harassment of human rights defenders.

Despite efforts to strengthen institutions, many defenders face criminalization and are often denied access to their case files. At least 63 justice officials have been forced into exile, and politically motivated prosecutions continue, particularly against anti-corruption figures.

The report also points to setbacks in transitional justice, with delays, annulments, and acquittals in high-profile cases related to the armed conflict. The closure of the National Reparations Program left over 28,000 claims unresolved. Indigenous communities remain excluded from land rights discussions, despite a 2024 agreement to address land conflicts. The OHCHR documented multiple forced evictions, including instances of sexual violence against Indigenous women, affecting over 500 families.

Struggle for Democracy

Judicial persecution of the Semilla party has intensified. On February 27, Salvador Noé Batz Chuc, Secretary of Finance and Transparency for the Semilla Party, was arrested over alleged irregularities in the party’s formation. Since its unexpected success in the 2023 elections, the Semilla party (known in Spanish as the Movimiento Semilla), led by President Arévalo, has been consistently under attack.

The Attorney General’s Office has initiated at least 17 investigations against high-level government officials, and at least six times asked the Supreme Court to strip President Arévalo of his immunity so that he can be criminally investigated. Concerns have arisen over the political nature of these legal actions, with fears that party members are being coerced into guilty pleas.

José Rubén Zamora

In March, renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora, who had been granted house arrest, was once again imprisoned. An appeals court overturned his house arrest order on March 4, and Zamora was arrested and returned to jail on March 10. His legal team has appealed the decision before Guatemala’s Supreme Court.

The judicial persecution of Zamora has drawn widespread outcry from both national and international observers, who argue that Zamora’s prosecution represents a broader attack on press freedom in Guatemala. On March 26, international organizations submitted an amicus curiae to the Supreme Court in his defense, while U.S. Congresswoman Norma Torres in a tweet urged the court to grant the appeal in his case and denounced his detention as a violation of fundamental rights.

In recent months, a campaign of criminalization and disinformation targeting the Guatemalan media outlets Prensa Comunitaria and Ruda has been unleashed. The media outlets are facing unfounded lawsuits and intimidation and threats of additional spurious allegations against them.

Nelton Rivera

A cyber attack campaign involving netcenters and accounts connected to groups within the Public Ministry has been accessing reporters’ private information, such as photos, and then posting this information on social media sites, together with threats. Journalist Nelton Rivera, of Prensa Comunitaria, has been particularly targeted. The criminalization stems from Prensa Comunitaria and Ruda’s role in exposing high-level corruption and human rights violations.

May-June 2025, ATC 236