Police scuffle with electoral court justices in Guatemala as prosecutors seek to seize vote tallies
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s Mynor Franco, center, arrives to the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia arrives to the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia arrives to the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia, center, accompanied by magistrates Ranulfo Rojas, left, and Mynor Franco, pose for photos outside the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia, center, accompanied by magistrates Gabriel Aguilera, from left, Ranulfo Rojas and Mynor Franco, pose for photos outside the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A cordon of police agents stand guard during a raid by the Attorney General’s office of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Pedestrians walk past a cordon of police agents during a raid by the Attorney General’s office of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
An agent from the Attorney General’s office raid the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Police stand guard as agents from the Attorney General’s office raid the the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of the records of election results following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Agents from the Attorney General’s office take part in a raid of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of the records of election results following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s Mynor Franco, center, arrives to the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s Mynor Franco, center, arrives to the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia arrives to the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia arrives to the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia arrives to the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia arrives to the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia, center, accompanied by magistrates Ranulfo Rojas, left, and Mynor Franco, pose for photos outside the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia, center, accompanied by magistrates Ranulfo Rojas, left, and Mynor Franco, pose for photos outside the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia, center, accompanied by magistrates Gabriel Aguilera, from left, Ranulfo Rojas and Mynor Franco, pose for photos outside the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s President Irma Palencia, center, accompanied by magistrates Gabriel Aguilera, from left, Ranulfo Rojas and Mynor Franco, pose for photos outside the Constitutional Court building in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the electoral tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A cordon of police agents stand guard during a raid by the Attorney General’s office of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A cordon of police agents stand guard during a raid by the Attorney General’s office of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Pedestrians walk past a cordon of police agents during a raid by the Attorney General’s office of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Pedestrians walk past a cordon of police agents during a raid by the Attorney General’s office of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
An agent from the Attorney General’s office raid the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
An agent from the Attorney General’s office raid the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of election results records following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Police stand guard as agents from the Attorney General’s office raid the the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of the records of election results following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Police stand guard as agents from the Attorney General’s office raid the the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of the records of election results following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Agents from the Attorney General’s office take part in a raid of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of the records of election results following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Agents from the Attorney General’s office take part in a raid of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. The prosecutor’s office raided the tribunal for the fourth time on Friday in search of the records of election results following Bernardo Arévalo’s presidential election win. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Policemen shoved and wrestled with justices of Guatemala’s top electoral tribunal Saturday, as prosecutors sought to seize the tally sheets of votes from the August presidential elections.
There were harrowing scenes of justices holding tight to boxes, as police tried to wrestle them away as part of raids to investigate spurious claims of voting fraud.
Observers at the time said they saw no evidence of any such fraud, and most in Guatemala see it as an attempt to weaken or disqualify the winning candidate, Bernardo Arévalo.
Seventy-year-old Justice Maynor Franco, wearing a suit and tie, refused to give up his grip on a vote box, even as a much younger agent tried to wrestle it away.
Justice Blanca Alfaro pleaded with officers not to take the boxes, because they represented the will of voters. She was shoved and briefly fell to the floor during the fracas.
Saturday’s events came during the latest round of raids by Attorney General Consuelo Porras and prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, efforts that international groups have said are aimed at overturning or tarnishing the electoral results.
Porras took over as attorney general in 2018 and in 2021 was sanctioned by the U.S. government for being an undemocratic actor and undermining investigations into corruption. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Porras’ office has ongoing investigations into the way Arévalo’s Seed Movement gathered the necessary signatures for its registration years earlier, as well as into allegations of fraud in the election that independent observers have said are unsubstantiated.