Caribbean & Central America - January 2026

A special mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) for the strengthening of democratic institutions in Guatemala recently paid a visit to the country to observe the selection processes due in 2026 in four key judicial institutions: the attorney general’s office, five-member electoral court (TSE), five-member constitutional court (CC), and comptroller general’s office (CGC). The mission’s visit was at the behest of left-of-centre reformist President Bernardo Arévalo, who took office in January 2024, but whose anti-corruption agenda has been held up by key figures such as Attorney General (AG) María Consuelo Porras, who has been blacklisted by the US, European Union, and other members of the foreign community.

The OAS mission, which conducted its visit from 9-15 November, is a continuation of that deployed in 2024 to observe the selection processes for the supreme court (CSJ) and appellate courts. Ultimately these appointments failed to provide much relief for President Arévalo in his fight against corruption [SSR-24-11] despite theoretically providing his administration with the opportunity to preside over more transparent processes that would result in more suitable candidates.

The TSE magistrates, CC magistrates, and AG are due to take office in March, April, and May respectively with the new comptroller general to be in post towards the end of the year. The TSE magistrates serve six-year terms, while the CC magistrates serve five-year terms, and the AG and comptroller general serve four-year terms. Only the CC is elected directly, with five institutions electing one member apiece: the executive, legislature, CSJ, bar association (Cang), and rector of San Carlos University (Usac), the country’s main public university. The TSE, AG, and CGC are appointed via shortlists presented by nominating committees which are temporary bodies comprising representatives from the judiciary, legal sector and academia. In the case of the TSE and CGC, congress makes the selection from the shortlists, while in the case of the AG, it is the president.

In a 14 November statement, the OAS said that the mission held meetings with authorities from the three branches of government, along with the CC, Usac, private universities, students, Cang, women’s organisations and other civil society groups, among others. It highlighted that participants underscored the “central importance of the second-degree electoral processes… for the preservation of the rule of law, judicial independence, democracy, the fight against corruption”, inter alia. The OAS mission however reiterates familiar concerns regarding the misuse of criminal law, and disciplinary or administrative actions by institutions like the attorney general’s office [SSR-25-07]. It highlighted that a “recurring concern expressed to the Mission” was “the fear - among potential candidates, members of nominating commissions, lawyers, academics, human rights defenders, and other key actors – of being subjected to criminalization, smear campaigns, judicial harassment, or attacks on social media as a consequence of their participation in these processes.”

A subsequent OAS statement issued on 3 December also expressed concerns about a governance crisis affecting Usac’s superior university council (CSU), which has a legal mandate to participate in some of the selection processes. The crisis stems from discrepancies over the latest election of CSU members. Warning that the lack of a functioning CSU could affect the legitimacy of the nominating commissions, the mission calls for a full CSU to be installed and recognised as soon as possible to ensure that the selection processes are legitimate, transparent, and reliable.

• Governance crisis at Usac

Usac elected a CSU for the 2022-2026 period in May 2022. Long-time CSU member, Walter Mazariegos, was elected as the university’s dean and CSU head. However, Mazariegos’ election has been denounced as fraudulent by some university officials who refuse to recognise him as dean. He was also blacklisted in 2023 by the US for undermining “democratic processes or institutions by accepting the position of rector of the public education institution in July 2022 following a fraudulent selection process”. His predecessor, Murphy Paiz Recinos, was arrested in 2021 in relation to a major scandal known as the ‘parallel commissions 2020 case’ involving allegations of interference by illicit groups in the justice system.