In compliance with an order from the Constitutional Court (CC), the Nomination Commission for the election of attorney general integrated this Friday, April 24, a new list of six candidates for head of the Public Ministry (MP), which will be delivered to President Bernardo Arévalo de León.
As occurred in the first selection, the current attorney general, Consuelo Porras, was not included in the final list.
The process, which has been under heavy public scrutiny due to multiple allegations of corruption against the MP head, was restarted amid criticism after the country’s highest court annulled the first payroll. The CC determined that the evaluation of the professional experience of some candidates—particularly those who have served as judges—was carried out incorrectly.
New list of candidates
The Nomination Commission elected the six candidates after a new day of voting:
- Julio César Rivera Clavería, with 10 votes in favor and five against
- Néctor Guilebaldo de León, with 10 votes in favor and five against
- Beyla Adaly Estrada Barrientos, with 12 votes in favor and three against
- Gabriel Estuardo García Luna, with 15 votes in favor and none against
- Carlos Alberto García Alvarado, with 11 votes in favor and four against.
- César Augusto Ávila Aparicio, with 11 votes in favor and four against
The CC ordered the process to be moved back to the phase of evaluating the files of 48 candidates and required a new list to be sent within a period of 48 hours. With this decision, the President of the Republic must elect the next attorney general for the period 2026-2030.
The Nomination Commission met to comply with the ruling and approved restarting the qualification of applicants, after receiving the files again from President Bernardo Arévalo de León, who returned them after being notified of the judicial resolution.
The president is responsible, by law, to appoint Porras’s successor, whose term ends on May 16 after two consecutive terms. The current prosecutor tried to run for a third term, but was unable to be included on the payroll.
Political and judicial context
Analysts agreed that this review opened the possibility of modifying the correlation of forces in the election of the new head of the MP, but that did not happen. The figure of Consuelo Porras has been subject to sanctions by the US and the European Union, under accusations of corruption and undermining democracy.
Porras, a 72-year-old jurist, took office in May 2018, appointed by then-president Jimmy Morales (2016-2020), and was re-elected during the administration of Alejandro Giammattei (2020-2024).
In 2022, when it was expected that she would not be re-elected, a resolution of the CC ordered her inclusion in the final list of candidates.
First payroll canceled
The initial payroll, compiled on April 20, was returned by the Presidency after the order of the CC. It was made up of:
- Beyla Adaly Xiomara Estrada Barrientos, with 13 votes in favor and two against
- César Augusto Ávila Aparicio, with 10 votes in favor and five against
- Julio Rivera Clavería, with 11 votes in favor and four against
- Estuardo García Luna, with 10 votes in favor and five against
- Zoila Tatiana Morales Valdizón, with 10 votes in favor and five against
- Néctor Guilebaldo de León Ramírez, with a score of 79.69 points; In a fourth round he obtained the support of 11 commissioners and four against
Nomination Commission integrates a list of candidates for Attorney General of the MP.
Julio Rivera Clavería
Néctor Guilebaldo de León
Beyla Xiomara Estrada
Gabriel Garcia Luna
Carlos García Alvarado
César Augusto Ávila @prensa_libre pic.twitter.com/sVjuia0rIV— Elmer Vargas (@evargas_gtv) April 25, 2026
🚨 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗼́𝗻 𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗮 𝗖𝗖
In compliance with the resolution of the CC, the nomination commission for the election of attorney general and head of the Public Ministry defined the six candidates that make up the… pic.twitter.com/K3vzwEWELT
— Guatemala Visible (@guatevisible) April 24, 2026
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