Costa Rican president expresses full support for Guatemala’s President-elect Bernardo Arévalo

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves on Wednesday welcomed Guatemala’s President-elect Bernardo Arévalo and offered his country’s full support as the elected leader continues to face legal challenges from prosecutors who attempt to derail his inauguration.

During a welcoming ceremony in the capital, San Jose, Arévalo personally invited Chaves to his swearing in, scheduled for Jan. 14.

Guatemalan prosecutors continue to pursue criminal cases against Arévalo’s Seed Movement party and, last month, said they would ask a court to strip Arévalo of his immunity so that he can be investigated for allegedly sending messages of support on social media to protesters who took control of a public university last year and for election irregularities.

International observers and Arévalo himself have said his election victory was clean and that prosecutors’ investigations are only an attempt to derail his inauguration.

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Arévalo on Tuesday publicly protested prosecutors’ refusal to show him the case against him. The same day the Organization of American States approved a resolution condemning the Guatemalan attorney general’s abuse of power and said it was preparing for a visit.

Arévalo, the son of a former president, is considered a progressive who campaigned on cleaning up the country’s endemic corruption.

“Costa Rica recognizes President Bernardo Arévalo as the person democratically elected by the Guatemalan people,” Chaves said.

“The Costa Rican government views the actions of the Guatemalan Attorney General’s Office with enormous concern and condemns them,” Chaves said. “They are against that country’s democracy, the rule of law, the separation of powers and the peaceful presidential transition.”

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