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Luis Pacheco, deputy minister of Sustainable Development at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, arrested
By Prensa Comunitaria, April 23, 2025, https://prensacomunitaria.org/2025/04/detienen-a-luis-pacheco-expresidente-de-la-junta-directiva-de-48-cantones/
The Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) announced several raids to execute arrest warrants against indigenous authorities who participated in the October 2023 national strike, which demanded the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras and her allies who sought to prevent Bernardo Arévalo and Karin Herrera from assuming the presidency in 2024. There are at least five arrest warrants in this case, which seeks to charge the suspects with sedition, terrorism, and unlawful association.
The arrest confirmed was that of Luis Pacheco, former president of Los 48 Cantones de Totonicapán and current deputy minister of Sustainable Development at the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Meanwhile, it is also reported that another of those arrested is Héctor Samuel Chaclán Batz, former treasurer of the 48 Cantones.
President Bernardo Arévalo said that the actions of the MP Office are a blow against Pacheco and the 48 cantons. The President confirmed there are legal actions against four other people on the board of directors of the 48 Cantones. "We are outraged. This is an attack on democracy. These are very serious times for us, because we are witnessing what a gang of criminals is capable of when they know their time is running out. It is a vicious blow against the people of Guatemala," he said. […]
Luis Pacheco is a Maya K'iche' man from the Canton of Juchanep. Before becoming president of the board of directors of the 48 Cantones, he was also a community mayor and president of the Roads Committee. His career has been backed by his father, who died two years ago and was an authority in the Canton of Juchanep.
January 14, 2025 marked one year since the 106 days of social mobilization that had begun on October 2, 2023, when indigenous authorities across Guatemala declared an "indefinite national strike," blocking roads and closing businesses nationwide in protest against Attorney General Consuelo Porras, prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, and judge Fredy Orellana "who, through their arbitrary actions, are attacking the democracy and autonomy of our people and the constitutional order."
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170 people criminalized with Consuelo Porras as head of AG office
By Kristhal Figueroa, June 25, 2025
https://www.agenciaocote.com/blog/2025/06/25/unos-170-criminalizados-con-consuelo-porras-al-frente-del-mp/
More than 100 people have been forced into exile, 60 have been prosecuted, and six are in prison. This is reflected in the report "Effectiveness or Impunity?" presented by the Institute for Comparative Studies in Criminal and Social Sciences (Inecip) of Argentina and the organization Alliance for Reforms, which reveals the pattern of criminalization carried out by the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) in Guatemala. According to the report, there are almost 170 documented cases of judicial persecution by the MP.
The cases are marked by the use of ambiguous crimes, sanctioned judges, and trials without guarantees. These criminalizations have led to exile, arbitrary imprisonment, and systematic cyberbullying.
Consuelo Porras' tenure as Attorney General of the MP has been marked by the persecution and criminalization of social actors and defenders of human rights and democracy, according to the study. The study reveals that the criminalizations are directed at specific groups: former justice officials and former members of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), human rights defenders, and independent journalists. Some 60 people from this sector have been criminalized. Of these, at least 40 former prosecutors and judges are in exile.
Nine former prosecutors have been imprisoned, including Virginia Laparra (two years in prison), Eduardo Pantaleón (now released), and Stuardo Campo, the only one who remains in prison since May 2023.
Most of the cases involved individuals implicated in corruption or impunity cases that had been uncovered by the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity (FECI) and the CICIG.
Other social actors
Political opponents have also been persecuted, including students and professionals from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC). One of them is Plutarco De León, a philosophy and civil engineering student who spoke out against corruption both within the USAC and the MP. On November 16, 2023, proceedings were initiated against him with a raid on his father's home and an arrest warrant issued against him.
The MP accused him of sedition, aggravated usurpation, damage to cultural heritage, and unlawful association. Along with him, 26 other people were criminalized in the USAC Case. They are linked to the peaceful takeover of the university's facilities in 2022, in response to the appointment of Walter Mazariegos as rector. "The complaint was filed by Mazariegos in collusion with other members of his administration (whom he himself appointed) who also appeared as witnesses," De León asserts.
The same patterns
According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the MP repeats the same pattern in cases of criminalization. The process begins with prior surveillance and monitoring actions. For example, since 2018, vehicles that appear to belong to intelligence structures or clandestine apparatus have been used to pursue justice operators.
Smear campaigns and stigmatization against those people targeted for criminalization appear on social media platforms, often using information that is confidential to the MP. These are accompanied by "intimidation strategies" that include repeated disciplinary and/or unfounded criminal proceedings. There are also threats via written messages and phone calls, according to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Guatemala in 2017.
The report by Alianza por las Reformas and INEICP identifies Yes, Master —and others that orbit around it—as a main actor in cyberbullying on social media. "Several people have publicly denounced that it is administered by the head of the MP, which is reinforced by the publication of confidential or restricted information from judicial proceedings," the report states. "In this regard, there are indications that a netcenter could be operating within the MP to direct and coordinate cyberbullying campaigns," the document states.
A case study
The harassment against Plutarco De León began in this way. It was more than a year before the arrest warrant was issued against him. When the process of election of rector of the USAC began in 2022, De León was threatened and harassed on social media, where his personal information, including his home address, was exposed. This forced him to constantly move around to ensure his safety. "Later, the Mazariegos administration blamed me for the damage and the takeover of the USAC, without any investigation or evidence. This showed that they were preparing a bigger setup against me," the student explains.
Plutarco De León follows events in Guatemala, and particularly at the USAC, now from exile.
These smear campaigns constitute a form of cyberbullying. They seek to denigrate and discredit the criminalized individuals and their defense attorneys. Their objective is to cause psychological and emotional damage. When directed at women, they have a strong gender component, according to the report.
Processes without guarantees
As part of the pattern in criminalization cases, procedural deadlines are often unjustifiably delayed. The MP uses ambiguous criminal charges to criminalize, according to the report. This allows public opinion to be divided on the criteria. Some of these crimes are breach of duty or abuse of authority, in the case of former justice officials. In the case of defense attorneys representing criminalized individuals, they have chosen to accuse them of obstruction of justice.
The study has identified 27 crimes that have been used by the MP to criminalize social actors. These have been used at least 500 times.
Other more serious crimes such as those related to terrorism are used to silence social protests, as in the case of Luis Pacheco and Hector Chaclán, former leaders of the 48 Cantones de Totonicapán. Both have been in preventive detention since April 2025 for the October 2023 demonstrations.
Another relevant factor in the continuation of these abusive actions are the particular courts that support them. Although the case assignment system in the Judiciary has a computer system that, in theory, is random, in practice this is not the case. The report documents the "exclusive assignment" of criminalization proceedings to a limited group of criminal courts. Most of the judges in charge of these bodies have been sanctioned internationally for obstructing justice. Among them are Fredy Orellana, Jimi Bremer, Mynor Moto, and Víctor Cruz.
No chance to defend themselves
Taken together, these actions ensure that those criminalized are unable to exercise their right to a fair trial. Inecip and the Alliance for Reforms document violations such as declaring cases confidential, which legally binds victims. Some cases include that of former prosecutor Virginia Laparra, the case against members of the Semilla party, and that of journalist Jose Rubén Zamora. Almost all cases of criminalization have been declared confidential.
In cases such as that of Eduardo Masaya, a lawyer and member of Semilla who has refused to accept charges, the judge ordered his transfer to a prison with harsher conditions.
Another almost identical case was that of Jorge Santos, former director of IT at the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. In both cases, Judge Fredy Orellana and the Public Prosecutor's Office are seeking to have the defendants accept charges. According to the report, this has functioned as "coercion to force the accused to accept charges."
The Foundation Against Terrorism
An additional factor in this criminalization structure are private entities or individuals who coordinate directly with the MP. According to the IACHR and Volker Turk, head of the OHCHR, 80% of criminalization cases begin with complaints or lawsuits filed by individuals who were investigated by CICIG. These individuals act together with or through the Foundation Against Terrorism (FCT) and its allied organizations or individuals.
A large percentage of the cases against former prosecutors, judges, and criminalized lawyers have the FCT as the plaintiff. This is despite the fact that it is not an affected party in any of them. The most serious cases brought by the MP are against former prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval, against whom 70 complaints have been filed. Also, former Constitutional Court (CC) magistrate Gloria Porras, with 60 complaints.
Alliance for impunity
This criminal alliance operates on several levels. Plutarco De León claims that the MP acted in coordination with the USAC administration to persecute students, workers, and teachers.
"The prosecutor who criminalized us frequently visited the rector's office to meet with Mazariegos. In recent weeks, both Rafael Curruchiche (FECI prosecutor) and Consuelo Porras have been seen at the USAC," the student said.
In his opinion, it is increasingly evident that Porras is seeking to [be named to] the Constitutional Court (CC) through the University High Council (CSU). This is to maintain her immunity from prosecution and thus allow the continued criminalization of Mazariegos' opposition.
This criminalization continues unabated. After expelling 10 students last May, the MP initiated investigations into a demonstration that took place in front of the rector's office.
Exile, the last option
These criminalizations have caused more than 100 people from different sectors of society to flee into exile. The most vulnerable have been those investigating and administering justice. International organizations have recorded at least 40 former prosecutors and judges outside the country. Student Plutarco De León, after participating in a study abroad program, decided not to return to Guatemala because he could not find guarantees for his life. "Exile changes everything. It means leaving behind my family, my loved ones, and separating myself from what I once dreamed would be my life in the country where I was born. There is no area of my life that has not been transformed as a result of exile," he concludes.
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