Guatemala's Attorney General's Office has detained two Indigenous leaders on spurious terrorism charges tied to their participation in peaceful protests, Human Rights Watch said today.
On April 23, Guatemalan police detained Luis Pacheco and Hector Chaclán in Guatemala City, after prosecutors accused them of serious crimes - including terrorism - in connection with their participation in peaceful protests during Guatemala's 2023 general elections. Pacheco, who now serves as deputy minister of sustainable development, helped lead protests in response to efforts by Attorney General Consuelo Porras and others to unlawfully overturn the election results.
"Detaining Indigenous leaders under terrorism charges for participating in peaceful protests sends a chilling message to anyone who dares stand up for democratic principles and the rule of law in Guatemala," said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should guarantee full due process protections, drop these abusive charges, and release Pacheco and Chaclán."
During a news conference on April 23, 2025, prosecutors in the Organized Crime Unit said the charges against Pacheco and Chaclán stem from unspecified criminal complaints related to street blockades during the 2023 protests. They also said that protesters committed unlawful association, sedition, terrorism, and obstruction. The prosecutors claimed, without providing evidence, that protesters intended to take over the headquarters of the Attorney General's Office.
The charges against Pacheco and Chaclán are part of a broader effort led by Attorney General Porras to bring politically motivated charges against anti-corruption prosecutors, independent judges, journalists, and officialsin the current administration of President Bernardo Arévalo.
On April 25, a judge ordered that both Pacheco and Chaclán be held in pretrial detention. The case is currently under judicial seal, a maneuver often misused by prosecutors in Guatemala to avoid public scrutiny over politically motivated prosecutions.
Under Guatemalan law, the offense of terrorism has an indefensibly broad definition that opens the door to abusive prosecutions. Its scope includes anyone who "carries out an act of violence, or an attack against life or human integrity, or against property or infrastructure" with "the purpose of altering the constitutional order" or "the public order of the State," among other goals. The crime is punished with up to 30 years in prison.
Many countries have enacted laws that criminalize the offense of terrorism. These laws should be crafted very narrowly so as to capture only conduct that is genuinely of a terrorist nature and not, as is often the case, a much broader range of activity including acts of political protest. Terrorism charges should never be used against individuals engaged in peaceful protest, Human Rights Watch said.
By misusing the crime of terrorism to go after critics, Guatemala's Attorney General's Office follows the footsteps of other abusive attorneys general in the region, including in Venezuela and Nicaragua, Human Rights Watch said.
Officials in the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union, the United States, Latin American governments, and Canada should express concern over the prosecution of Pacheco and Chaclán. They should closely scrutinize the ongoing pattern of abusive, spurious prosecutions in Guatemala.
Diplomatic missions in Guatemala should closely monitor the judicial process against Pacheco and Chaclán and request access to hearings. Foreign governments should also provide sustained financial support to independent civil society organizations and media outlets documenting abuses. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union, which have imposed targeted sanctions against Attorney General Porras and other officials, shouldmaintain and consider expanding these sanctions to other officials responsible for violating human rights and undermining the rule of law.
"Attorney General Porras, who led an effort to unlawfully stop President Arevalo from taking office, is going after his government and the Indigenous leaders who defended Guatemalans' right to vote," Goebertus said.
