Persecution of the Semilla Movement and Arévalo

Bernardo Arévalo’s government spent its second year in office under intense political pressure. The lack of a political majority in Congress and the ongoing legal persecution by the Public Prosecutor’s Office hampered the administration’s work.

The trio of Consuelo Porras, Rafael Curruchiche, and Fredy Orellana used the judicial system to persecute Movimiento Semilla and even annul the elections that validated their mandate.

Persecution of indigenous leaders

The arrest of Esteban Toc Tzay, marks the increase of conflict in rural areas and indigenous communities, and the denunciation of monoculture projects and land extraction was, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner, an indicator of the increase in criminalization against land defenders.

Escape in Fraijanes II

The Guatemalan prison system suffered a blow with the escape of 20 leaders of the Barrio 18 gang from the Fraijanes II maximum security prison.

Apparently, the inmates escaped through the main gate of Fraijanes II prison, allegedly with internal complicity. This led to the dismissal of the prison system’s directors. As of year’s end, they remain at large.

The Rubén Zamora case

Journalist José Rubén Zamora endured a year of contradictions and legal abuses. In March 2025, an appeals court revoked his house arrest, forcing him to return to prison.

Subsequently, in October, the Supreme Court overturned his money laundering conviction after detecting flaws in the judicial process. However, Zamora remains imprisoned because the Public Prosecutor’s Office has other open legal cases that have delayed his final release.

Approval of the Competition Law

In early 2025, the Competition Law was passed after decades of failed attempts to implement it. This law allowed for the creation of the Superintendency of Competition, whose purpose is to investigate and penalize monopolies and unfair practices.

The corruption of the Public Prosecutor’s Office

According to judicial monitoring reports, the efficiency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, under the management of Consuelo Porras, fell to a historic low of 6.4% in the resolution of serious crimes throughout the country.

Throughout 2025, the Public Prosecutor’s Office dismissed key prosecutors or those who had secured convictions in high-profile cases, such as the Hogar Seguro case, in which 41 teenagers died. Because of these actions, the international community has indicated that the justice system is being used for political purposes in Guatemala.

Storms and cold fronts: missing persons and victims

According to reports from Guatemala’s National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), the season of extreme rains and cold fronts left more than 45 dead and thousands affected.

This situation led the Presidency to declare «partial states of calamity» to address the needs of the Highlands and the Northern Transversal Strip, highlighting Guatemala’s vulnerability to natural events.