Mexico City, December 13, 2023 (mexicosolidarity.com) – The Mexican government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador called Saturday for the recent election results in neighboring Guatemala to be respected, adding to a choir of voices backing President-elect Bernardo Arévalo.

“We reject any action that negatively affects constitutional order and trust that the rule of law and democracy will prevail,” read a statement by the country’s Foreign Affairs Secretariat.

Mexico’s statement comes as a result of Guatemala’s attorney general Consuelo Porras’ determined efforts to reverse the results of the October 31 election that saw the reformist candidate from the Semilla party triumph in the election.

Porras’ petition to nullify the election represents what analysts called the “most aggressive attack against the recent presidential race”.

Arévalo called the fraud allegations “absurd, ridiculous and perverse” and that the country was before a “crucial moment.”

Porras’ actions have been met with widespread protests, particularly from the country’s Indigenous peoples who staged a lengthy sit-in calling for her resignation. 

Nonetheless, Porras has continued unabated and once again asked Congress to strip Arévalo’s immunity from prosecution on Friday.

The Guatemalan attorney general’s campaign has been met with widespread international condemnation. On Monday, the Biden administration said it had imposed visa restrictions on nearly 300 Guatemalan individuals that it accuses of “undermining democracy and the rule of law.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has also been emphatic in his denunciations, calling for the Organization of American States (OAS) to act.

“We are facing a coup in Guatemala,” he posted on social media.

OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro, who has been an adversary of leftists in the region, echoed Washington’s position, calling the actions of the Attorney General as an “alteration of the country’s constitutional order.”

Arévalo has also received support from the Puebla Group, a forum of leftist leaders and parties in the region, with the Guatemalan president-elect attending the Ninth Gathering of the group earlier this year in Mexico.

Despite the international pressure, including from regional heavyweights US and Mexico, it is not clear if there is sufficient political will in Guatemala to stop the forces conspiring to prevent Arévalo from taking office on Jan 14.

Edited by José Luis Granados in Mexico City.