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According to the information revealed by the IACHR, Arevalo reported that as of July 3, one week after the first round of voting [June 25], when he advanced to the second round, at least three sources within state institutions with a high degree of reliability, and who do not know each other, warned him of the existence of the plan, referring to the 1994 assassination of Luis Donado Colosio, candidate of the Mexican PRI party.
The IACHR decision describes that according to Arévalo's team, the State was aware of these threats and yet did not deactivate the risks through an adequate investigation, but limited itself to "indicating that it had not received any complaints, despite the fact that these acts should be prosecuted officially".
At that time, Arevalo's security scheme was scarce and he had to resort to private agents. In response to the threats the government of Alejandro Giammattei provided him with reinforcement through the Secretariat of Administrative and Security Affairs (SAAS). This consisted of 20 agents distributed by shifts and who were not with the candidate on a permanent basis.
Another serious concern that Semilla's team raised before the IACHR is that Arévalo was traveling in a borrowed vehicle with level three armor, which would be below the level recommended by experts for a person at risk like him, who should be driving with level seven armor.
The same situation was reported with Karin Herrera, vice-president-elect, who uses an armored vehicle lent by a supporter.
"The security schemes would not be sufficient to respond adequately to such high levels of risk and it would be more than urgent to reinforce them," the IACHR ruling underlines.
Among the list of facts that Semilla party and Arévalo reported to the IACHR is the leaking of information on criminal proceedings against the party to anonymous Twitter accounts. Most notably, the user Yes Master! who has had unrestricted access to the case of the Special Prosecutor against Impunity (Feci), even when the Semilla party's lawyers have requested to see the file on more than 25 occasions without the Public Prosecutor's Office agreeing to it.
They also denounced that last July 9, Ricardo Méndez Ruiz, president of the Foundation Against Terrorism, allegedly threatened to prosecute Arévalo criminally "for several serious crimes" and that he published expressions such as "prisoner or fugitive", a warning that he would take him to prison or force him into exile, as has happened with other judges, prosecutors and journalists under the eye of this extreme right-wing organization.
The response sent by the State to the IACHR states that the government considered that "no serious situation is evident" and that the attacks on social networks against Semilla party and its candidates "are consistent with the issuance of public opinions and, being within the freedom of expression, cannot be prosecuted or sanctioned by the State".
That same day, Arevalo told the media that he had been notified of the precautionary measures and that he would meet with the Giammattei government to coordinate what actions would be taken.
Regarding the Public Prosecutor's Office, the IACHR warned that there is a history of concern about judicial persecution and the lack of independence of the Prosecutor's Office, which has prosecuted more than a dozen former prosecutors investigating corruption and has had "interference in the electoral process".
The IACHR's findings raised reactions, including that of Juan Francisco Sandoval, a former prosecutor now in exile due to complaints filed by the Foundation against Terrorism, who was removed from his post by Attorney General Consuelo Porras, when his investigations targeted President Giammattei.
"It has not been enough to use the judicial system, now they are using the state security structures to try to deprive Bernardo Arevalo and Karin Herrera of their lives," he wrote on Twitter.
From the notification of the precautionary measures in favor of the elected presidential candidate, the State of Guatemala has 15 days to report on the measures adopted to protect his life and physical integrity.
This week the Semilla party suspended its public celebration for the election of Arévalo and Herrera. Both also did not appear at the Obelisco Plaza, where on the night of Sunday, August 20, thousands of sympathizers came to celebrate the victory at the polls, instead waving from one of the balconies of the Hotel Las Américas.
The last appearance of the elected couple in a massive open-air event was during his campaign closing, where he was surrounded by a large security detail.
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