Global Courant
The National Civil Police (PNC) confirmed that there is a deployment of riot agents in Tactic, Alta Verapaz, where residents burned ballot papers in rejection of the electoral results of last Sunday, June 25.
Live broadcasts and videos posted on social networks show how a mob removed the boxes, destroyed them and set them on fire along with the ballots, on a public road, in front of the Tactic municipal headquarters.
“Burn them!” the residents were heard saying, amid the noise of the protest.
Although the PNC confirmed that there is a police deployment, no detainees or injuries have been reported.
However, the members of the Tactic Electoral Board denounced that the calls for help have been ignored and they have not taken action.
Also read: Preliminary electoral results in the Elections in Guatemala 2023
Riots elsewhere
The local media began reporting the incidents at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, June 26, after a series of isolated events in various parts of the country.
In addition to Tactic, riots are reported in four other municipalities. In Raxruhá, Cahabón, La Tinta and Chisec, from hours of the early hours of this Monday after the first results of the voting at the municipal level were announced.
The PNC reported that in Tactic there were reports of detainees, but so far they have not been able to confirm it. Although there is a presence of agents, they seek to regain control through dialogue.
denounce coercion
“Yesterday -June 25- they were giving money, between Q300 and Q500 for each person (for their vote) and that is what all the people are demonstrating. We no longer want the people of Tactic to continue to receive fraud”, declared one of the neighbors about the measures in fact.
“It is annoying that they always try to deceive people, it is a corruption that has been going on for eight years,” he added.
According to data from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in Tactic 98 percent of the tally sheets processed have already been scrutinized, with Edin Guerrero, candidate of the Nosotros Political Party (PPN) being elected.
Also read: Photos: Riots, ballot boxes and burned ballots continued in some places after the 2023 Guatemalan elections
In Raxruhá, it was confirmed that there were people detained at the Don Bosco Association polling station, for which reason the PNC riot police intervened to free them. No captures have been reported in that region either.
The firefighters reported that they have received alerts to put out the fire due to the burning of ballots, but there are no reports of injuries, so far.
