28/04/2025 (Agence Europe) – The European Union (EU) is “deeply concerned” by the detention, since Wednesday 23 April, of two former leaders of the indigenous authority ‘48 Cantones de Totonicapán’, including the Vice-Minister for Energy, Luis Pacheco. They have been detained for taking part in an anti-corruption demonstration against the Attorney General of Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, María Consuelo Porras, explained the spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) in a statement on Friday 25 April. They have called on the Guatemalan judiciary to uphold the rule of law, the right to peaceful assembly, to respect due process and to ensure the safety of those detained. Since the beginning of 2024, the EU has sanctioned five Guatemalan officials, including Ms Consuelo Porras, who were responsible for manipulating the judicial system with the intention of obstructing the inauguration of the current president, Bernardo Arévalo (see EUROPE 13547/36). (MB)