In January, President Bernardo Arévalo took office, overcoming numerous attempts led by Attorney General Consuelo Porras to unlawfully overturn the election.
The Attorney General’s Office continued a campaign of politically motivated prosecutions against independent journalists, prosecutors and judges as well as Arévalo administration officials.
Judicial Independence and Corruption
The lack of judicial independence remains a critical issue in Guatemala, undermining the rule of law and threatening human rights protections. It stems from systemic problems in the judicial selection process, including non-transparent nomination procedures, political meddling, and undue influence from corrupt actors. The judiciary often fails to hold powerful interests accountable, instead serving to protect them.
In September, two “nomination committees,” formed by law school deans, judges, and bar association representatives, submitted to Congress a list of candidates for all 13 Supreme Court and 156 Court of Appeals positions for the 2024-2029 term—a critical opportunity to bolster judicial independence in the country. In October, Congress appointed new judges to the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals. Many had been under criminal investigation for alleged influence peddling in previous judicial selection processes.
In March, President Arévalo asked the Organization of American States (OAS) to send an observation mission to monitor the justices’ selection process. In September, the OAS mission published a preliminary report noting conflicts of interest, the nomination of candidates reported to be involved in corruption or human rights abuses, and inadequate vetting procedures.
Arbitrary Criminal Prosecutions
Under Porras, the Attorney General’s Office has for years orchestrated spurious criminal prosecutions against justice officials, human rights defenders, anti-corruption activists, and officials of the Arévalo administration. In 2023, Porras’s office conducted bogus criminal investigations aimed at preventing President Arévalo from taking office.
Prosecutors have also asked the Supreme Court to lift President Arévalo’s immunity from criminal prosecution and have sought to proscribe the ruling party, Movimiento Semilla.
In July, Virginia Laparra, a former anti-corruption prosecutor, fled Guatemala after nearly two years imprisoned on spurious charges. Laparra had been under house arrest since January. Her prosecution was widely seen as retaliation for her work on high-profile corruption cases against public officials and organized crime.
Former anti-corruption prosecutor Stuardo Campo remained in prison at time of writing, on charges of “abuse of authority” and “breach of duties,” among others. The hearings in his case have been postponed multiple times, undermining his right to due process.
According to the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala (UDEFEGUA), at least 91 people fled into exile due to criminal prosecution, threats, or harassment since 2022. These included 44 legal professionals and 26 human rights defenders.
Civic Space
UDEFEGUA documented over 9,000 instances of aggression—including criminalization, harassment, defamation, stigmatization, threats, intimidation, and violence—against human rights defenders, journalists, organizations, and communities working to defend human rights, the highest recorded number to date.
The Attorney General’s Office and a section of the judiciary have created a hostile environment for the exercise of freedom of expression and the press. Journalists face arbitrary detention, restrictions on news coverage, and online harassment. According to the NGO Journalists’ Observatory, at least 25 journalists fled the country in the last few years.
In late December, journalist César Leiva was shot to death in the department of Jutiapa and journalist Gleymer Villeda was killed in Izabal department. Three other journalists were murdered in 2023. Impunity for crimes against the press, particularly targeting those investigating public interest issues like corruption and human rights violations, remains the norm.
UDEFEGUA reported that, between March 2023 and August 2024, at least 18 human rights defenders were murdered in Guatemala. In June, José Domingo, a lawyer and human rights defender, was murdered. Domingo worked closely with the United Farmworkers Committee (CUC), one of the country’s most prominent peasant organizations. He was known for his advocacy on behalf of farmworkers and Indigenous groups, providing legal support to these communities in their struggles for land rights and better working conditions. Another CUC leader, Gustavo Yaxón, was injured in the same attack and died from the injuries a few days later.
In November, a Guatemalan appeals court ordered journalist José Rubén Zamora back to prison, overturning an October court decision that had granted him house arrest after determining his two-year pre-trial detention was excessive. Zamora, 68, founder of El Periódico was initially arrested in July 2022 on money laundering charges and sentenced to six years in prison. In October 2023, an appeals court overturned the verdict, ordering a retrial. Prior to his transfer to house arrest, several UN experts had raised concerns about his detention conditions. At time of writing, his retrial was pending.
In March, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said Zamora’s detention was arbitrary, and called for his immediate release.
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
High levels of poverty and inequality, structural discrimination, and corruption limit access to fundamental rights, especially for groups that have historically faced exclusion, including Indigenous peoples as well as Afro-descendant and rural communities. According to the official figures, 56 percent of the population was living in poverty in 2023, including 16 percent in extreme poverty, as defined by the national poverty line.
Acute and chronic malnutrition affect children at alarming rates. As of October, over 25,000 cases of acute malnutrition in children were reported by the government. By October, reported cases were significantly higher than what was typically seen at this time of year in 2021-2023 (18,500 cases on average). According to government figures, chronic malnutrition affects 46.5 percent of children under five years old nationwide and according to the World Bank, Guatemala has one of the highest such rates globally.
Between January and October, 278 children under five died in cases associated with malnutrition. The Arévalo administration launched the “Mano a Mano” Intersectoral Initiative, aiming to reduce chronic malnutrition by ten percentage points during its four-year term.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported an increase in forced evictions and land conflicts in 2023, primarily affecting Indigenous communities. In July, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed concern about the lack of mechanisms for recognizing and titling ancestral lands, allowing for the advancement of hydroelectric, mining and oil company, and monoculture projects without free, prior and informed consultation. Indigenous leaders defending their land and environment face criminalization, harassment, and threats. According to media reports, the evictions that have been carried out have often involved abuses by police and private security agents, resulting in the destruction of homes and property, forced displacement, and other ESCR violations for the affected communities.
In December, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that Guatemala violated multiple rights of the Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ people in the El Estor municipality, Izabal state, including by failing to properly title their lands and conduct adequate prior consultation regarding mining activities affecting their territory.
Migrants and Asylum Seekers
Guatemala serves as a country of origin, destination, transit, and return for migrants and asylum seekers. In 2023, Guatemala experienced a high influx of migrants, with over one million people entering the country. The majority of these people were from Venezuela and Honduras.
In June 2023, Guatemala and the United States launched “safe mobility offices” to facilitate legal pathways for Guatemalans to enter the US, including family reunification and temporary work visas. In May, the program was expanded to include Hondurans, Salvadorans, and Nicaraguans present in Guatemala.
In September, Guatemala welcomed 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners, whom the Nicaraguan government released and expelled as part of an agreement with the US and Guatemala. The prisoners will stay in Guatemala temporarily, where they will be able to apply for resettlement in the US or elsewhere.
Public Safety
Guatemala grapples with organized crime, drug trafficking, and institutional weaknesses in the justice system.
The homicide rate, which peaked in 2009 at 46 per 100,000 people, has since declined steadily, reaching 16.1 per 100,000 in 2023. During the first half of 2024, there was a seven percent decrease in the homicide rate in the country compared to the same period the previous year, according to government data. There are also other significant challenges, including high levels of human trafficking, extortion, and violence against women.
The 2023 National Survey of Household Quality and Well-being (ENCABIH) revealed that 48 percent of women have suffered some type of gender-based violence at least once in their lifetime. In the first half of 2024, civil society groups reported 206 violent deaths of women, with 44 percent classified as femicides. Impunity in cases of violence against women remains the norm.
Sexual Violence Against Girls
Pregnancy during adolescence and early parenthood affects thousands of girls in Guatemala. The Observatory for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (OSAR) reported 37,190 pregnancies among adolescents and girls ages 10 to 19 between January and August 2024, including 1,298 among girls ages 10 to 14. Under Guatemalan criminal law, all pregnancies among girls under age 14 are considered the result of sexual violence.
Access to maternal health care for pregnant girls is hindered by both inadequate healthcare goods and services and physical, economic, and discriminatory barriers. In rural areas, some health centers lack the necessary supplies, including prenatal vitamins, to properly care for pregnant girls. Girls and their families travel long distances, sometimes for hours or even days, to reach healthcare facilities where they can receive necessary medical treatment, further depleting many households’ already-limited financial resources.
Girls who experience pregnancies as a result of sexual violence often encounter discriminatory treatment from healthcare professionals. In some cases, during and after pregnancy and childbirth, girls do not receive specialized care commensurate with their age.
Pregnancies under the age of 14 carry significant risks to girls’ physical and mental health and put girls’ lives at risk. In Guatemala, abortion is criminalized, except when the life of the pregnant woman, girl, or person is in danger, and penalties vary from one to twelve years in prison. Most medical professionals interpret this exception to include only cases where death would be immediate or imminent. Safe and legal abortion for girls under 14, whose pregnancies are a result of sexual violence—and inherently put their lives at risk because of age—remains unavailable.
Gender and Sexuality
Guatemala does not allow same-sex marriage or legal gender recognition for transgender people, and lacks comprehensive anti-LGBT discrimination legislation.
In June, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court called on authorities to uphold “spiritual and moral values” and for participants to observe “good morals” during the annual Pride Parade.
Sanctions
In January, the European Union established a dedicated individual sanctions regime and sanctioned five individuals for undermining democracy and the rule of law before and following the 2023 presidential election.
Also in January, the US State Department imposed visa restrictions on former President Alejandro Giammattei and three of his children, citing his involvement in “significant corruption.” The State Department has imposed visa restrictions on Attorney General Porras, former President Giammattei, and their families, citing corruption and rule of law concerns. In December 2023, it also restricted visas for nearly three hundred Guatemalans, including over one hundred congressmembers, for undermining democracy during the presidential transition.