Guatemalan judge drops terrorism charges against vice minister

A judge in Guatemala on Friday dismissed the case against four Indigenous protest leaders, including a deputy minister, who led demonstrations in 2023 against a prosecutor who had tried to prevent President Bernardo Arevalo from taking office.

Luis Pacheco, a vice minister of energy and mines, was arrested on terrorism charges last April for leading protests against then-attorney general Consuelo Porras calling for her resignation for seeking to overthrow Arevalo.

Porras had been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for her actions and failed to be reappointed as attorney general earlier this year.

Her successor Gabriel Garcia Luna, appointed by Arevalo, announced upon taking office that he would review cases alleged to involve arbitrary charges under Porras, including Pacheco's.

"The evidence does not provide serious grounds for a public trial," Judge Mynor Moto said when announcing the case's dismissal in court, leading several people in attendance to applaud and the accused to embrace their attorneys and supporters.