Political situacion in October 2026

Fears for the safety of community journalists in Huehuetenango: Evelio Lisandro López Sánchez murdered

Evelio Lisandro López Sánchez is the third journalist to be murdered so far this year.1 He was shot and killed on October 2 while on his way home. López was Maya Mam, from the municipality of San Pedro Necta in the department of Huehuetenango. He was the founder of the digital media outlet Huehue Es Noticias HNT2 and an active member of the Huehuetenango Press Association (APEHUE). According to Prensa Comunitaria, the Noticiero de los Huehuetecos had publicly spoken out about threats made against the journalist a few days before his murder.

The recent events took place in a violent context with roots going back to 2021, when López served as a social media officer for the municipality of San Pedro Necta and was one of the victims of an armed attack against former mayor Julio Ambrocio Ramírez, who died on September 7, 2024, as a result of injuries sustained during that attack.2 This pattern of violence continued, and in 2023, Aníbal Napoleón Ramírez Méndez, a reporter for Noticiero de los Huehuetecos, and his wife, Mercy Morales, were murdered. In his reporting, Ramírez addressed issues in his region, such as embezzlement and corruption within the San Pedro Necta municipal government. He had previously served as an officer with the National Civil Police (PNC) but was dismissed in October 2022 for denouncing corruption in the region on social media. Ramírez received threats prior to his murder.3

In addition, “a reporter from Noticiero de los Huehuetecos and Orgulloso de Ser Pueblo Viejo spoke out about being physically assaulted and threatened on October 18 in San Sebastián, Huehuetenango. According to a press release put out by both media outlets, four people assaulted and threatened him. Despite requesting help, he did not receive immediate assistance from the police.” The Guatemalan Chamber of Journalism (CGP) issued a press release calling on “the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP), the PNC, the Ministry of the Interior, the Judiciary, and the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman to investigate these incidents, determine who is responsible, provide immediate protection to journalists who are under threat, and guarantee journalists’ freedom to carry out their work without intimidation or censorship.”4

The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (SRFOE) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has condemned Evelio’s murder and called on the authorities to “conduct prompt, thorough, and diligent investigations to clarify the circumstances and motives behind these incidents, as well as to identify, prosecute, and punish all those responsible.” Furthermore, the SRFOE has taken note of reports questioning the MP’s delay in processing the crime scene and removing the body, as, according to these reports, authorities reportedly arrived at the scene the morning after the attack.5

Río Hondo: Municipal consultation on the Pasabien Hydroelectric Project suspended

On September 29, the Constitutional Court (CC) provisionally suspended Article 1 of the bylaws on local consultation of residents in the municipality of Río Hondo, Zacapa, which authorized municipal authorities to call for a consultation on the Pasabien hydroelectric project. The decision came after the legal representative for Inversiones Pasabien, the company that owns the project, filed a motion to declare the regulation partially unconstitutional. The ruling nullified the regulatory grounds for holding the consultation, set for October 11, in which residents were to decide whether to allow the hydroelectric plant to continue operating in the Pasabien River sub-basin.6

The court ruling came amid a long-standing conflict between the company and the communities of Río Hondo over water access, land tenure, and the environmental impacts of hydroelectric operations. The communities have reported that because the company diverted the river’s flow, their water supply for human consumption and agricultural activities has been negatively affected. Likewise, in February 2026, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) imposed a Q276,789 fine on the hydroelectric plant for failing to comply with environmental commitments established in 1995 and requested that the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) evaluate whether to renew the company’s operating license.7

The conflict has also been marked by incidents of violence. In July 2025, a police operation to evict residents of the Santa Rosalía Mármol community left two community members and one PNC officer dead, further escalating tensions between the communities and the company.8

The consultation’s cancellation represents a new obstacle preventing the people of Río Hondo from participating in a decision that directly affects their natural resources and living conditions. “While the various legal proceedings continue to move forward through administrative and judicial channels, the Pasabien Hydroelectric Plant continues to operate without meeting the necessary requirements, and despite communities’ opposition and the negative impact it has on those communities.”9

Assassinations of Solórzano Foppa and Aguilar Gamarro reignite concerns about persistent impunity

The October 17 double murder of Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa and Gustavo Adolfo Aguilar Gamarro has generated concern among Guatemalan organizations that goes beyond simply solving both these crimes – they are also concerned about the risk that violence and impunity will be used to intimidate those who speak out against corruption and demand justice. The Committee for Peasant Development (CODECA) labeled Foppa’s murder a political assassination and linked it to the weakening of democratic institutions. The Assembly of Social Organizations warned that impunity can serve to silence critical voices. Rafael Landívar University called for a thorough investigation and urged the public not to give in to fear. These reactions situate the case within a broader context of concern about the conditions faced by human rights defenders who struggle against impunity as they work to expose abuses and seek justice. At the international level, the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and on the independence of judges and lawyers condemned the crime and called for a thorough investigation, for those responsible to be punished, and for judicial officials to be protected.10 In addition, 19 international organizations stated that Foppa’s murder constitutes a serious attack on freedom of expression and the defense of human rights. They called for a thorough and impartial investigation, for those responsible to be punished, and for guarantees of a safe environment for human rights defenders.11

Standstills and setbacks in criminal cases against Stuardo Campo and Virginia Laparra

As of the end of October, the cases against Virginia Laparra and Stuardo Campo – who were part of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI) – remain active, thus continuing the pattern of criminalization carried out by the MP during the tenure of the highly controversial Attorney General Consuelo Porras. What the Laparra and Campo cases have in common is that both concentrated their efforts on the fight against corruption, and that UN recommendations about their cases have been ignored.

Laparra was imprisoned in 2022 and was released after a year and ten months in prison. Upon her release, she faced new charges, and in December 2023, she was forced to go into exile to ensure her well-being and freedom. The former prosecutor filed an appeal to annul the criminal proceedings brought against her by former judge Lester Castellanos; however, on October 27, the CC upheld the Supreme Court of Justice’s (CSJ) decision to suspend the appeal until Laparra appears in person before the Fifth Chamber of the Quetzaltenango Court of Appeals. However, if the former prosecutor did so, she would be putting herself at risk, as there is an outstanding arrest warrant against her, because she was declared in contempt of court when she failed to appear at a hearing scheduled for June 5, 2025.12

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that both Laparra’s and Campo’s detentions were arbitrary and has called for their release.13

Stuardo Campo has been in pretrial detention for nearly 3 years. The hearing to resolve his criminal case has been postponed 18 times. The most recent hearing was scheduled for October 21, but it was rescheduled once again—this time to December 7—thereby extending his pretrial detention and making it impossible to hold a hearing to review the coercive measures against him.14

The State publicly apologizes to criminalized indigenous authorities

On October 7, 2026, the Guatemalan State issued a public apology to five indigenous leaders who were criminalized for leading the 2023 citizen protests in defense of democracy and the election results. The ceremony, held at the National Palace of Culture and presided over by President Bernardo Arévalo, was addressed to Luis Pacheco, Héctor Chaclán, Basilio Puac, and María Juana Elías – former members of the leadership board of the 48 Cantones of Totonicapán – as well as to Esteban Toc of the Indigenous Mayor’s Office of Sololá.

The indigenous authorities faced charges of terrorism, sedition, and criminal conspiracy, among other crimes, after participating in protests that began on October 2, 2023. Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán spent more than 468 days in pretrial detention, while Basilio Puac and Esteban Toc were placed under house arrest. For her part, María Juana Elías was forced into exile. On September 11 and 25, 2026, a criminal court ruled to definitively close the cases, finding no evidence to support the charges. As part of the court’s rulings, the State was ordered to issue a public apology.15

During the formal apology ceremony, President Arévalo acknowledged that state institutions used the justice system to criminalize indigenous authorities rather than protect them. He also stated that the 48 Cantones of Totonicapán and the Indigenous Mayor’s Office of Sololá are not criminal organizations, but rather legitimate authorities that play a fundamental role in indigenous peoples’ community organization and daily life.16

However, the apology was bittersweet for the criminalized authorities, because while the state apologized, “Who will provide reparations for the harm caused?” “For 520 days, they endured imprisonment, house arrest, exile, financial hardship, and mental health issues, as well as separation and distance from their families. (…) A public apology is very easy, but who is going to provide reparations for that now?”.17

Verdict given for the extrajudicial executions of Milton Santamaría and Eldin Choc Xi

On October 21, High Risk Court B convicted seven former PNC officers for their role in the deaths of Milton Santamaría and Eldin Choc Xi, which occurred at the San Andrés Itzapa police substation in Chimaltenango on April 18, 2024.

Edy Vásquez Rabanales, the substation chief, and Fredi Santiago Velásquez Pérez each received 60 years without the possibility of commutation for extrajudicial execution; they were given 30 years for each victim. Mauricio Abraham Contreras Salán was sentenced to 30 years without the possibility of commutation for the death of Milton Santamaría and acquitted of the death of Eldin Choc Xi. The charges against Yuliza Nabely Ayala Yol and Yorleni Macario Ramos were modified: they were sentenced to five years for dereliction of duty and three years for discrimination for each victim; these sentences are commutable at a rate of Q5 per day. Jeremías Jacobo Rojas Rojas was sentenced to five years for abuse of authority and three years for unlawful detention, also commutable at a rate of Q5 per day (he was acquitted of refusal to provide assistance). Ángel Mario Roquel Sajbochol received five years for obstruction of justice and five years, commutable, for breach of duty, in addition to a fine of Q1,000 for failure to report a crime (he was acquitted of failure to provide assistance). All those convicted were barred from holding public office for the duration of their sentences. The Guatemalan State was acquitted.18

At the hearing on dignified reparations, held on October 23, the court ordered the seven people convicted to pay a total of approximately Q500,000 to the victims’ families for economic and moral damages. The court also ordered the director of the PNC to issue a public apology to the residents of San Andrés Itzapa and instructed the police academy to install a plaque bearing the names of the victims and an explanation of their deaths.19

The case was denounced as a hate crime motivated by the victims’ sexual orientation. During the trial, the court concluded that the officers lied to evade institutional oversight and conceal the torture and executions. Although crimes motivated by the victims’ sexual orientation or gender identity are not classified as specific offenses in Guatemala, the trial shed light on this issue and highlighted the need to strengthen laws and protection mechanisms.20 It also underscored state institutions’ responsibility when violence is committed by their own agents. This is also one of the first convictions for extrajudicial killings that happened after the end of the Internal Armed Conflict.