Dear Friend,

We hope you're enjoying your summer! 

Below you will find our Guatemala Update, with a special annex by former top corruption prosecutor, Juan Francisco Sandoval. Juan Francisco, who has joined our team at GHRC, analyzes the first actions of the new attorney general and the new Constitutional Court and what they portend for the future. 

Human rights violations in Guatemala are ongoing, but this is a time of hope and renewal, as some of the most corrupt elements within the Public Prosecutor's Office, responsible for persecuting human rights defenders, journalists, and anti-corruption prosecutors, have departed. Thank you for supporting Guatemalans in their struggle for human rights!

Human Rights Violations

• Indigenous Leader Arrested

Around noon on June 17, community leader and Indigenous human rights defender José Acté was arrested in the town of El  Rancho, in the municipality of  San Agustín, Acasaguastlán, El Progreso, while returning home after carrying out tasks for the Campesino Unity Committee (CUC). CUC, in a statement, condemned the “constant criminalization to which Indigenous leaders throughout the country are being subjected,” demanded an end to those repressive actions, and called on the government to comply with the Agrarian Agreement and put a stop to cases “in which the justice system continues to be used as an instrument of repression and criminalization.”

While some cases of criminalization have been closed recently, including the case against Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) leader, Leocadio Juracán, criminalization and other forms of attack on defenders remain a concern. Land defenders are especially vulnerable to attack.  According to the 2025 report of the Unit for the Defense of Human Rights Defenders of Guatemala (UDEFEGUA), the majority of the twelve assassinations and eleven attempted assassinations of defenders last year were carried out against land defenders.
 

• Fenix Nickel Mine Resumes Operations

In late May, Fénix Nickel resumed operations in the El Estor region of Izabal. In response to the renewal of operations, Maya Q'eqchi Indigenous Authorities have requested precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Indigenous authorities from the Q’eqchi Maya community in the municipalities of Panzós and El Estor are demanding that the government suspend mining operations resumed by the company Fénix Nickel due to the serious environmental risks, criminalization, and corruption associated with the company, as well as the government's failure to conduct a free, prior, and informed consultation. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights had ruled in 2023 that the State of Guatemala had violated the rights of Indigenous communities by authorizing mining activity without an adequate process of prior, free, and informed consultation. Among other measures, the Inter-American Court ordered that a consultation take place.

The mine had been suspended since 2023 following US Treasury sanctions for bribery schemes carried out by executives of the mine, at the time owned by the Swiss/Russian Solway Investment Group. The bribery schemes involved Guatemalan politicians, judges, and government officials, including former Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei. After the sanctions were lifted in 2024, the subsidiaries were placed under new US ownership–the parent company is now the Nickel Company LLC, registered in Albany, New York–and operations resumed on May 27, 2026. This resumption of operations ignores the ruling of the human rights court, and the obligations of the state with respect to the rights of Indigenous communities remain pending.

The conflict over mining in El Estor exists within a broader pattern of land dispossession and state-backed violence against Q'eqchi communities in the region. Mining isn’t the only extractive industry that has led to violence, displacement, and continual rights violations. In the Polochic Valley, approximately 200 families in the community of Chapín Abajo are surrounded by oil palm plantations operated by Naturaceites, a company owned by the Guatemalan businessman Juan Maegli Müller. The community has no space for subsistence farming, no room for a school, and no recognized land title. These conditions are rooted in the systematic displacement of Q'eqchi people occasioned by centuries of land dispossession, from initial Spanish colonization of their lands 500 years ago, through the internal armed conflict, and to the local and multinational exploitation of their lands today.

• Communities Ask CC to Guarantee Fair Consultation

Indigenous leaders of the community Yich K’sis, in San Mateo, Ixtatán, have asked the Constitutional Court (CC) to examine a ruling by Guatemala’s Supreme Court regarding the process of consultation that must take place related to a hydroelectric dam that threatens their social, environmental, and cultural rights. On June 5th, representatives of the Indigenous communities of Yich K’isis argued before the CC that the consultation, which the Supreme Court ordered should conclude within a year, should have been carried out before the construction of the dams in the area began. Since it didn’t, the consultation is not “prior,” as required by the International Labor Organization Convention 169, which Guatemala has ratified. According to ILO 169, Indigenous peoples must be involved in decisions regarding their own lands, territories, and natural resources. Community representatives also told the Constitutional Court that, regarding the consultation involving the Pojom II dam, the only interlocutors the Ministry of Energy and Mines has recognized as valid are members of the Community Development Councils and the Municipal Development Councils, leaving out Indigenous Authorities. The communities have asked the Constitutional Court to modify the ruling to recognize the participation of legitimate indigenous structures, and to suspend hydroelectric operations while guaranteeing the conditions necessary for adequate consultation. The August 2025 Supreme Court ruling that ordered the consultation specified that construction of the dam could continue while the consultation was underway.

Juan Castro, of the Indigenous People’s Law Firm, argued that, before any consultation, the state must guarantee that sufficient technical information is available for the communities to make an informed decision. He said the government should carry out environmental, cultural, and spiritual studies to identify the true impacts of the project. He pointed to uncertainties regarding the validity of the environmental licenses associated with the project and noted that international organizations had done studies that identified risks associated with the loss of biodiversity, landslides, and other environmental impacts.

The construction of the Pojom I and Pojom II dams has endangered the water sources and lands historically used by the local population. As development of hydroelectric projects has progressed, conflict between residents, security forces, and company personnel has intensified. The Inter-American Development Bank, which had financed the construction of Pojom II, withdrew its loan in 2022 after an internal investigation revealed that the IDB failed to comply with its own environmental and social safeguards, including guaranteeing that an adequate consultation had taken place.

In February 2026, the Constitutional Court confirmed lengthy prison sentences for two Indigenous defenders who had sought to protect their communities’ rights in the face of the dam construction.

• Campo’s Hearing Suspended for Fourth Time this Year

For the seventh time since December 2023, a hearing in the case of former prosecutor Stuardo Campo, charged with supposedly hiding evidence related to his investigation of the Zolic case, has been suspended. The Tenth Criminal Court began a preliminary hearing on February 26, 2026, after many delays. During a hearing in April, prosecutors presented their evidence. The hearing in which the defense was to present evidence, which was scheduled for May 6, was suspended. According to reports, three other such delays have occurred since February. During the February proceedings, Judge Víctor Cruz moved forward with the intermediate phase of the trial, without determining whether Campo should remain in pretrial detention or be granted house arrest. Judge Victor Cruz has been sanctioned by the United States for corruption.

This case, and other spurious cases brought against Campo, have been plagued by repeated delays that have kept the former prosecutor in pretrial detention for three years. In response to Campo’s ongoing detention, GHRC, together with the International League Against Arbitrary Detention ILAAD, filed a complaint on his behalf before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, has spoken out about Stuardo Campo’s treatment.  “In July 2024,” she wrote on X, “I expressed my concerns to the Guatemalan authorities about the case of Mr. Campo and what appears to be a pattern of criminalization against prosecutors who worked with FECI [Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity] and FCC [the Prosecutor’s Office Against Corruption]. These actions may constitute retaliation for their investigations into corruption, undermining judicial independence and the rule of law.” In an earlier communication, with respect to a judge’s refusal to grant Campo house arrest, Satterhwaite declared that Guatemalan officials had been unable to substantiate their argument that, if released, Campo could influence the case against him.
 

Governance

• Decriminalization Begins Under New Attorney General

Guatemala’s Attorney General, Gabriel Estuardo García Luna, who took office on May 17, has made a commitment to review cases in which prosecutors, journalists, human rights defenders, and others have been accused of crimes for what appear to be political reasons. García Luna noted that his administration will review the cases initiated during Consuelo Porras’s tenure through a special commission. As he explained, each case will be evaluated individually to determine the status of the investigations, the legal grounds, and the actions taken by the prosecutors’ offices. The objective of the special commission is to determine the legal basis of each case and review the measures adopted by the previous administration. According to García Luna, any individual affected by criminalization will be able to approach the MP for a review of their case. “Persecution without due process,” he said, “ has no place.”

In what appears to be a demonstration of this commitment, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which he leads as attorney general, has decided not to proceed with criminal prosecution against journalists and columnists from the now-defunct newspaper El Periódico. The case, which was opened during the tenure of Consuelo Porras and former prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche at the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), was used in an attempt to criminally prosecute journalists for their news reports. Many journalists were criminalized due to the ongoing prosecution, despite the Supreme Court of Justice itself confirming that the case should be dismissed. One appeal remained pending in the Constitutional Court, which left the possibility for the reactivation of criminal prosecution. The Public Ministry made the decision to waive that appeal in early June, effectively putting an end to the case.
 

• Attorney General Fires Curruchiche

As one of his first actions in office, Attorney General García Luna dismissed Rafael Curruchiche, who, along with Consuelo Porras, was internationally sanctioned for corruption. Curruchiche led the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI). Curruchiche led investigations against prosecutors investigating cases of corruption, journalists critical of the prior administration of President Alejandro Giammattei, and members of the Semilla Party, including President Bernardo Arévalo. Others working within the Public Ministry under Consuelo Porras resigned when García Luna took office, including Dimas Jiménez, who was among the officials closest to Consuelo Porras and who launched investigations into former judicial officials who had been in charge of high-profile corruption cases. In a move that has been met with some criticism, others within the MP who have been widely denounced for their actions have simply been transferred or demoted. Noé Rivera, who faced accusations for favoring military personnel accused of crimes against humanity in his role with the Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office, was denied a promotion granted to him during the final days of Porras’ tenure. Rivera led the criminal proceedings against former anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra, who is currently in exile. Cinthia Monterroso—designated as a “corrupt and undemocratic actor” heavily involved in procedures against independent journalists and the Movimiento Semilla party—joins a list of attorneys transferred to more remote regions of the country.

Major challenges facing the new Attorney General include restoring the independence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Public Ministry, or MP as it is known) and rebuilding public confidence in the judicial system as a whole, in the wake of the widely criticized eight-year term of Conseulo Porras. Under Porras’ leadership, the MP was responsible for the systemic criminalization of human rights defenders, judicial officials, journalists, indigenous leaders, and others. Additionally, she was sanctioned by the European Union and other countries, including the United States, for undermining democracy and the rule of law.

• CC Rules in Favor of Mazariegos as USAC Rector

On June 8th, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court (CC) ruled to protect the status of Walter Mazariegos as rector of the University of San Carlos (USAC). Through a procedural amendment, the CC “corrected” a lower court’s ruling that had ordered a repeat of the rector election. CC Magistrates Julia Rivera, Roberto Molina Barreto, and Dina Ochoa were in favor, identifying “inconsistencies in the injunction process” in the lower court’s ruling,  effectively overturning it without a full review. Magistrates Annabella Morfín and Astrid Lemus voted against the ruling.

After the electoral victory of Mazariegos as USAC rector, a victory described by Guatemalan media outlets and the National Business Council as fraudulent, opposition candidate Rodolfo Chang and the legal team of the Dignity and Rescue (USAC DIRE) group had filed for an injunction, which was granted by the lower court on May 29th. The election of Mazariegos was then effectively suspended. The election of Mazariegos took place behind closed doors at the Casa Santo Domingo Hotel in Antigua and excluded opposition voters. Violence and anomalies in the electoral process were decried by the international community. The European Union Observer Mission on April 1 had expressed concern regarding “attempts to manipulate the process by obstructing the accreditation of the legitimately elected electoral bodies” within the university.

This election marks the second time Mazariegos has forced his way into the rectorship. The US State Department sanctioned Mazariegos in 2023 for “accepting the position of rector of the public education institution in July 2022 following a fraudulent selection process.”

The new rector is supposed to take office on July 1. On June 23rd, President Bernardo Arévalo stated that in his administration’s view, it would be complicated for Mazariegos to take office on that day, in part because he has 15 complaints against him that have been filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Arévalo said an institutional solution is needed to resolve the situation and avoid more conflict.

• Congress Approves Law to Combat Money Laundering

On June 2, the Guatemalan Congress approved a new law to fight money laundering and other illicit financial activities, with 147 of the 160 members of Congress voting in favor. Officially known as the “Comprehensive Law for the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering or Other Assets and Terrorist Financing,” the law reportedly will provide the Guatemalan financial system with a more comprehensive set of tools to fight money laundering, which is essential to cartels and narco-terrorist groups to finance drug trafficking, human trafficking, and other illicit activities.

The measure was approved after several months of intense debate and internal disputes among former president Alejandro Giammattei’s VAMOS party and the conservative VALOR party. Among those who lobbied against the passage of the law was Allan Rodríguez, a VAMOS party member of Congress and former president of the Congress, who was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2022 for corruption. The US State Department officially congratulated Guatemala on the passage of the law, stating that it demonstrates Guatemala’s commitment to economic strengthening and the rule of law.

The law aims to align Guatemala’s existing regulatory framework on the prevention and suppression of money laundering with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The FATF is an intergovernmental body, created by the G7 to set international standards and promote policies to combat money laundering, the financing of terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Guatemala had already been warned by the FATF that it would be placed on a grey list of non-cooperative countries if it did not tighten its legal system with respect to these crimes.

Bilateral Relations

• NYT Reports Increased US Military Involvement in Guatemala

Citing three unnamed sources, the New York Times reported on May 28th that Guatemala  “has agreed to carry out joint strikes with the United States military inside its territory to target drug trafficking groups,” including airstrikes and other military action. President Arévalo’s office confirmed to the Times that his administration had written a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth requesting “cooperation in operations led by Guatemalan security forces against drug trafficking organizations.” Since the publication of the article, which sparked concern in Guatemala, President Arévalo has denied that any agreement with the United States would allow US troops to conduct military operations within Guatemalan territory. He emphasized that any action of that nature would require authorization from the Guatemalan Congress, and he stated that his administration has not requested nor plans to request such cooperation.

In a press release shared on social media, Arévalo stated that Defense Minister Henry Saenz sent a letter to his US counterpart, Peter Hegseth, requesting cooperation within the framework of the Anti-Cartel Coalition of the Americas, also known as the Shield of the Americas. This coalition was created by President Donald Trump in early 2026 and includes 18 Latin American countries. In the letter, Saenz asks for US assistance to lead “active military operations to combat terrorist organizations” and refers to “combined” operations, "led by Guatemala.” As he states in the letter, “The Government of Guatemala wishes to lead, with the assistance of the United States, active military operations to combat terrorist organizations…. Such combined military operations led by Guatemala will further bilateral interests in defeating terrorist organizations and advancing regional and hemispheric security.”

According to the Times, a telephone conversation between Guatemalan authorities and Hegseth took place on May 19. In  an interview with the Guatemalan news outlet  La Hora, Saenz appeared to backpeddle, noting that during the call, a request was agreed upon “for increased support for operations—always led by the Guatemalan Armed Forces—in the form of training or equipment, whether donated or loaned, by our strategic partner, the United States.” He said that they had not  yet received the requested support, but that he  believed that in June they would “begin to see concrete actions.” The minister denied that the operations would be joint efforts and insisted that the support would not be for operations such as drug seizures or the dismantling of clandestine laboratories, but rather for assistance in the arrest of individuals eligible for extradition. “They help us with technology and training, and we carry out the physical operations,” he emphasized.

These differing accounts have created confusion about the scope of bilateral security cooperation and underscored the need for greater transparency regarding agreements between the two countries. It remains unclear both what form US support would take–logistical and technical or kinetic–and what legal authority would permit it.

According to the New York Times, the US intends to pressure Mexico into accepting operations within its borders by normalizing US military presence across Latin America through other joint military action agreements. Ecuador agreed to a deal earlier this year, with US forces advising and assisting Ecuadorean troops on operations against suspected drug gangs. Unnamed Department of Defense sources familiar with the plans say Honduras is one of the next countries that the US will press to accept joint military action.

• Southcom Commander Visits Guatemala

United States Marine Corps General Francis Donovan, commander of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), completed a two-day visit to Guatemala in early June that included meetings with President Bernardo Arévalo, Minister of  Defense General Henry David Sáenz Ramos; Chief of Defense  General Div. Jose Giovani Martínez Milián, Minister of Interior Marco Villeda, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Mónica Bolaños. According to a Soutcom press release, General Donovan was in Guatemala to “continue the bilateral dialogue between senior US and Guatemalan leaders on expanding the bilateral defense partnership to implement a shared commitment to counter cartel criminal activity under the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition.” According to the press release, “US Southern Command is strengthening cooperation with committed partners across Central America, South America, and the Caribbean to detect, disrupt, and dismantle the violent cartels and US-designated terrorist organizations threatening our citizens, our economies, and our shared security.”