Guatemala held general elections on June 25 and in the race for the presidency, candidates Sandra Torres, of the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza, and Bernardo Arévalo, of the Movimiento Semilla, came in first and second place, respectively.

Neither of them obtained a majority, and therefore they must contest the run-off scheduled for coming August 20.

However, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (SET) took 20 days to make the results official, and it was this Thursday when it announced the second round between Torres and Arevalo.

At the same time, a court of first instance issued a resolution to deprive Movimiento Semilla of its legal status, which would prevent its candidate from participating in the decisive day.

Such a measure left the country in a state of profound shock where multiple sectors warned that TSE is the highest authority and not the Judiciary, which would have exceeded its authority in this case.

Nevertheless, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court granted Semilla a provisional injunction to prevent its cancellation as a political party, pending a final decision by the Supreme Court of Justice.

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