Thelma Cabrera, presidential candidate of the Movement for the Liberation of Peoples (MLP), in an interview at her home in El Asintal, Guatemala, Monday, March 13, 2023. Cabrera and her party depend on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for the rejection to the his running mate, running mate Jordán Rodas, faces the 2023 general election. (AP Photo/Moisés Castillo)

CITY OF GUATEMALA (AP) — Supporters of the Movement for the Liberation of Peoples, the only political party in Guatemala founded by indigenous peoples and peasants, protested Thursday outside various offices of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal demanding that it register their candidate for the presidency, who was not allowed to participate in the June elections.

Protesters marched to headquarters in the departments of Sacatepéquez, Quetzaltenango, Quiché, Totonicapán, Chimaltenango and in the Guatemalan capital where the court sits with banners reading “Stop the fraud, resign the magistrates”.

The Citizens Registry of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) denied registration to Thelma Cabrera, the only indigenous woman running for president, and former human rights ombudsman Jordán Rodas, to vice, alleging that Rodas does not have the settlement, a document that certifies that he has no outstanding accounts with the state, which Rodas denies.

By rejecting Rodas’ registration, Cabrera was automatically excluded.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Cabrera, who had not spoken to the press due to TSE accusations of campaigning early, said failure to register his party was a sign of fraud. electoral.

“The political system is corrupt. The system is designed by the corrupt and the corrupters themselves; they are loose, but they bind those of us who are clean,” Cabrera said in the interview.

The constitution establishes the requirements and obstacles to participation in elections and the regulations are not among the obstacles. It is established by the Probity and Responsibilities of Public Officials and Employees Act, a lesser standard of the constitution.

The TSE has registered other candidates for public office who have criminal charges open, including former presidential candidate Manuel Antonio Baldizón, convicted and expelled from the United States for laundering drug money to finance his electoral campaign and with two criminal prosecutions for corruption opened in Guatemala. This week, the TSE approved his recording, but due to public pressure reversed the decision.

On June 25, Guatemalans are called to the polls to elect a president, vice president, deputies to Congress, municipal mayors and deputies to the Central American Parliament for a four-year term starting in 2024.

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