Prosecutor takes aim at president's immunity in power struggle

Guatemala's US-sanctioned chief prosecutor sought Wednesday to strip President Bernardo Arevalo of immunity, the latest move in a power struggle that began with Arevalo's election on an anti-graft platform last year.

Arevalo accuses attorney-general Consuelo Porras, chief prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche and other members of the criminal justice system of seeking to overthrow him.

Porras, Curruchiche and Judge Fredy Orellana are listed as corrupt and undemocratic by the US government, and were at the forefront of efforts to stop Arevalo from taking office.

On Wednesday, Curruchiche told reporters he had filed a request to the country's Supreme Court to consider stripping Arevalo of his presidential immunity from prosecution.

He accused Arevalo of ordering payments to companies allegedly involved in corruption.

The case stems from a complaint filed by Ricardo Mendez Ruiz, president of a far-right foundation also under US sanctions.

Former lawmaker, diplomat and sociologist Arevalo, 65, pulled off a major upset when he swept from obscurity to win elections last August, firing up voters weary of graft in one of Latin America's poorest nations.

His anti-corruption crusade put him in the crosshairs of prosecutors themselves accused of graft and closely aligned with the country's entrenched political and economic ruling class.

They tried to overturn the election results and suspended the registration of his Semilla (Seed) political party on fraud allegations widely seen as trumped-up.

Arevalo has repeatedly denounced a "slow-motion coup d'etat."

After he took office in January, Arevalo asked Porras -- appointed in 2028 -- to resign, but she refused.

Curruchiche charged Wednesday that the president was "the main person who encourages corruption and promotes impunity in Guatemala."