Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1198 of 12 June 2025 implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/287 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Guatemala
Date: 2025-06-12
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, Guatemala, economic sanctions, international sanctions, legal person, natural person








L_202501198EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2025/1198


12.6.2025







            COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2025/1198
         
of 12 June 2025
         
implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/287 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Guatemala


THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,


Having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2024/287 of 12 January 2024 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Guatemala (1), and in particular Article 13(1) thereof,


Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Whereas:







(1)


On 12 January 2024, the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2024/287.












(2)


The Council remains deeply concerned about actions that undermine democracy, the rule of law and a peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala, including through the instrumentalisation of the justice system. The Council is particularly concerned about continued attacks against the democratically-elected government of President Arévalo and the misuse of legal and procedural measures to target elected officials, human rights defenders, journalists, indigenous leaders and independent judicial operators.












(3)


In view of the gravity of the situation, the Council considers that three persons and one entity should be added to the list of natural or legal persons, entities or bodies subject to restrictive measures in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2024/287. The entries for five persons should be updated.












(4)


Regulation (EU) 2024/287 should therefore be amended accordingly,





HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:



Article 1
Annex I to Council Regulation (EU) 2024/287 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.


Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.




This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 12 June 2025.


For the Council


The President

A. BODNAR
            





(1)  
            OJ L, 2024/287, 15.1.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/287/oj.




ANNEX
Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2024/287 is replaced by the following:




                     ‘ANNEX I
LIST OF NATURAL AND LEGAL PERSONS, ENTITIES AND BODIES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 2
A.   Natural Persons










 


Name


Identifying information


Reasons for listing


Date of listing




1.


María Consuelo PORRAS ARGUETA DE PORRES


Position(s): Attorney General of Guatemala, Head of the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala
DOB: 23.8.1953
Nationality: Guatemalan
National identification number: 242159605 (passport)
Gender: female


In her position as Attorney General of Guatemala, the highest civil servant in the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala (equivalent to Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office or Chief Prosecutor), María Porras Argueta De Porres (a.k.a. “Porras”) is involved in efforts to overturn the results of the first and second rounds of elections held in June and August 2023, including through spurious criminal investigations targeting the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the political party Movimiento Semilla and President Arévalo. Furthermore, under her leadership the Public Ministry has brought arbitrary proceedings against independent journalists, prosecutors, judges, and civil society activists including indigenous leaders and students.
María Porras Argueta De Porres is therefore responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala.


2.2.2024




2.


Ángel Arnoldo PINEDA ÁVILA


Position(s): Secretary-General of the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala
DOB: 10.5.1975
Nationality: Guatemalan
National identification number: 238937186 (passport)
Gender: male


Ángel Pineda Ávila is the Secretary-General of the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala (equivalent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office). He is second-in-command in the Public Ministry after the Attorney General, and Head of the General Secretariat of that institution. In that position, Ángel Pineda Ávila is involved in efforts to overturn the results of the first and second round of elections held in June and August 2023, including through spurious criminal investigations targeting the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the political party Movimiento Semilla and President Arévalo. In December 2023, he participated in a press conference where the Public Ministry presented claims that the outcome of the first round of elections in June 2023 was invalid.
Ángel Pineda Ávila is therefore responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala.


2.2.2024




3.


José Rafael CURRUCHICHE CUCUL


Position(s): Head of the Special Prosecution Office Against Impunity, Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala
DOB: 28.7.1970
Nationality: Guatemalan
National identification number: 229488307 (passport)
Gender: male


José Curruchiche Cucul is the Head of the Special Prosecution Office Against Impunity (FECI), which operates under the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala (equivalent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office). Under his leadership, the FECI spearheaded the ongoing investigation into the creation of the political party Movimiento Semilla of President Arévalo. He personally participated in the raid by the Public Ministry of the premises of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal that entailed the opening of sealed ballot boxes. Additionally, he was involved in the request for the suspension of the legal personality of Movimiento Semilla in July 2023. Furthermore, in December 2023 he participated in a press conference where the Public Ministry presented claims that the outcome of the first round of elections in June 2023 was invalid.
Through those actions, José Curruchiche Cucul is involved in efforts to overturn the results of the 2023 elections in Guatemala. He is therefore responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala.


2.2.2024




4.


Leonor Eugenia MORALES LAZO DE SÁNCHEZ


Position(s): Prosecutor at the Special Prosecution Office Against Impunity, Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala
DOB: 19.9.1979
Nationality: Guatemalan
National identification number: 2227901800101
Gender: female


Leonor Morales Lazo De Sánchez is a prosecutor in the Special Prosecution Office Against Impunity (FECI), which operates under the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala (equivalent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office). She is directly involved in the ongoing investigation into the creation of the political party Movimiento Semilla of President Arévalo. Following the second round of Presidential elections in August 2023, she participated in the raid by the Public Ministry of the premises of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal that entailed the opening of sealed ballot boxes. She also participated in a press conference in December 2023 where the Public Ministry presented claims that the outcome of the first round of elections in June 2023 was invalid.
Through those actions, Leonor Morales Lazo De Sánchez is involved in efforts to overturn the results of the 2023 elections in Guatemala. She is therefore responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala.


2.2.2024




5.


Fredy Raúl ORELLANA LETONA


Position(s): First Instance Criminal Judge of the Seventh Court
Date of birth: 4.11.1982
Nationality: Guatemalan
National identification number: 253127548 (passport)
Gender: male


As First Instance Criminal Judge of the Seventh Court, Fredy Orellana Letona is responsible for supervising and authorising the actions of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), which operates under the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala (equivalent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office), investigating alleged irregularities in the creation of the political party Movimiento Semilla, whose candidate won the second round of the presidential elections in Guatemala in August 2023. As supervising judge, Fredy Orellana Letona authorised raids at the headquarters of Movimiento Semilla in July 2023 and the premises of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in July and September 2023. He also ordered the provisional suspension of the legal personality of Movimiento Semilla and denied access to the case file for the defence. He has enabled FECI’s actions to prosecute elected authorities and the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
Through those actions, Fredy Orellana Letona is involved in efforts to overturn the results of the 2023 elections in Guatemala. He is therefore responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala.


2.2.2024




6.


Jimi Rodolfo BREMER RAMÍREZ


Position(s): First Instance Criminal Judge, Tenth Court, Guatemala
DOB: 25.9.1978
Nationality: Guatemalan
National identification number: 1913604570920
Gender: male


Jimi Bremer Ramírez is the First Instance Criminal Judge of the Tenth Court in Guatemala. In this capacity, he has issued arrest warrants and authorised investigations based on fabricated charges, and suspended hearings in those cases thereby limiting the right to a public hearing, access to justice and the right to a fair trial of the defendants.
In February 2023, as supervising judge, Jimi Bremer Ramírez authorised the request of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), which operates under the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) of Guatemala (equivalent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office) to investigate several journalists from the newspapers El Periódico and Prensa Comunitaria, following their coverage of high-level corruption in Guatemala. He suspended and deferred the court hearings of the founder of El Periódico José Rubén Zamora at least six times in one of the criminal cases against him. Furthermore, Jimi Bremer Ramírez delayed the procedures in the criminal cases against former prosecutors Stuardo Campo and Eduardo Pantaleón, and against the lawyer for the defunct International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Claudia González Orellana.
Through those actions, Jimi Bremer Ramírez has engaged in and supported actions undermining democracy and the rule of law in Guatemala, including persecution and intimidation of the representatives of the media, and of lawyers and prosecutors in Guatemala.


12.6.2025




7.


Ricardo Rafael MÉNDEZ-RUIZ VALDÉS


Position(s): President, Foundation against Terrorism (Fundación contra el Terrorismo), FCT
Date of birth: 9.10.1959
Nationality: Guatemalan
National identification number: 268287872 (passport)
Gender: male
Associated individuals:
Raúl Amílcar Falla Ovalle
Associated entities:
Foundation against Terrorism (Fundación contra el Terrorismo), FCT
Social media: https://x.com/rmendezruiz



Ricardo Méndez-Ruiz Valdés is President of the Foundation Against Terrorism (Fundación contra el Terrorismo), FCT. The FCT is involved in a campaign of politically-motivated prosecutions led by the Guatemalan Attorney General’s Office against journalists, prosecutors and judges who have been involved in exposing corruption and impunity in Guatemala as well as against the democratically-elected government of Guatemala, including President Bernardo Arévalo. The FCT has initiated a multitude of criminal investigations against justice operators, journalists and representatives of the government through the filing of criminal complaints and by acting as third party plaintiff in criminal proceedings that do not respect the fundamental rights of the defendants.
Through those actions, Ricardo Méndez-Ruiz Valdés has engaged in actions that undermine the rule of law in Guatemala, including the persecution and intimidation of representatives of the media, and of lawyers, judges and prosecutors.


12.6.2025




8.


Raúl Amílcar FALLA OVALLE


Position(s): Legal representative, Foundation against Terrorism (Fundación contra el Terrorismo), FCT
Date of birth: 9.11.1971
Nationality: Guatemalan
National identification number: 179421166 (passport)
Gender: male
Associated individuals:
Ricardo Méndez-Ruiz Valdés
Associated entities:
Foundation against Terrorism (Fundación contra el Terrorismo), FCT
Social media:

https://x.com/RaulFalla31



Raúl Falla Ovalle is the legal representative of the Foundation Against Terrorism (Fundación contra el Terrorismo), FCT. The FCT is involved in a campaign of politically-motivated prosecutions led by the Guatemalan Attorney General’s Office against journalists, prosecutors and judges who have been involved in exposing corruption and impunity in Guatemala as well as against the democratically elected government of Guatemala, including President Bernardo Arévalo. The FCT has initiated a multitude of criminal investigations against justice operators, journalists and representatives of the government through the filing of criminal complaints and by acting as third party plaintiff in criminal proceedings that do not respect the fundamental rights of defendants.
Through those actions, Raúl Falla Ovalle engages in actions that undermine the rule of law in Guatemala, including persecution and intimidation of representatives of the media, and of lawyers, judges and prosecutors.


12.6.2025




B.   Legal persons, entities and bodies










 


Name


Identifying information


Reasons for listing


Date of listing




1.


Foundation against Terrorism (Fundación Contra el Terrorismo), FCT


Date of registration:
5.7.2013
Associated individuals:
Ricardo Méndez-Ruiz Valdés
Raúl Amílcar Falla Ovalle


The Foundation Against Terrorism (Fundación contra el Terrorismo), FCT, is involved in a campaign of politically-motivated prosecutions led by the Guatemalan Attorney General’s Office against journalists, prosecutors and judges who have been involved in exposing corruption and impunity in Guatemala as well as against the democratically-elected government of Guatemala, including President Bernardo Arévalo. The FCT has initiated a multitude of criminal investigations against justice operators, journalists and representatives of the government through the filing of criminal complaints and by acting as third party plaintiff in criminal proceedings that do not respect the fundamental rights of defendants.
Through those actions, the FCT engages in actions that undermine the rule of law in Guatemala, including persecution and intimidation of representatives of the media, and of lawyers, judges and prosecutors.


12.6.2025’










ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2025/1198/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)