Prosecutors Seek to Strip Antigua Mayor’s Immunity Over Alleged Irregularities in Municipal License

Guatemala’s anti-corruption prosecutors are seeking to remove the immunity protecting Antigua Guatemala Mayor Juan Manuel Asturias Sueiras, alleging that public procurement rules may have been ignored when a municipal license was issued.

The Public Ministry filed the request with the Center for Administrative Management of Criminal Cases after a complaint from the Comptroller General of Accounts. Prosecutors said their investigation concerns possible illegal acts arising from the failure to follow procedures required under the State Procurement Law.

The request does not immediately place Asturias under direct criminal investigation. A mixed chamber of the Court of Appeals in the department of Sacatepéquez must first decide whether the allegations provide enough basis to lift the mayor’s immunity. The judges can either authorize the Public Ministry to continue its investigative measures or preserve the protection attached to his office.

Asturias did not respond to requests for comment sent by phone and WhatsApp before publication. The request came two weeks after he took part in a ceremony recognizing senior judicial officials. Antigua Guatemala’s municipal council named several Supreme Court magistrates Distinguished Visitors of the City in an event led by the mayor.

Those recognized included Claudia Lucrecia Paredes Castañeda, president of the Judicial Branch and Supreme Court, along with magistrates from the dominant bloc. The Public Ministry’s action against Asturias is described as the second high-profile immunity case brought under Attorney General Gabriel García Luna. The first targeted Judge Fredy Orellana in an alleged 400,000-quetzal bribery case linked to a judicial ruling.