The new instruments lock in another year of targeted measures against officials seeking to dismantle Guatemala’s democratic institutions.
Januart 12th, 2026 – The EU has published two instruments today updating the EU’s regime against individuals responsible for undermining democracy and rule of law in Guatemala. They were adopted simultaneously and make identical substantive changes.
Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/88 operates under the Common Foreign and Security Policy framework and governs the prohibition on listed individuals entering or transiting through EU member state territory. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/87 operates under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and governs asset freezes: the prohibition on making funds or economic resources available to listed individuals, directly applicable across all member states.
Together, they do two things. First, they extend the validity of the Guatemala sanctions framework by one year, to 13 January 2027. Second, they update the listing entries for five of the eight individuals currently designated, expanding the factual grounds for each designation to reflect developments since the original listings.
The five individuals whose entries are updated are María Consuelo Porras Argueta de Porres (Attorney General of Guatemala), Ángel Arnoldo Pineda Ávila (Secretary General of the Public Prosecutor’s Office), José Rafael Curruchiche Cucul (head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity), Ricardo Méndez-Ruiz Valdés (president of Fundación contra el Terrorismo), and Raúl Amílcar Falla Ovalle (legal representative of the same foundation). The updated entries incorporate actions taken in 2025, notably the prosecution of indigenous leaders on terrorism charges for their role in defending the 2023 electoral results, as additional grounds supporting the designation of the Porras and Pineda Ávila entries, and expand the documented conduct attributed to the FCT-linked individuals.
Additional Notes:
The EU’s Guatemala sanctions regime was established in January 2024 in direct response to the campaign by the country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office to invalidate the 2023 presidential elections and obstruct President Arévalo’s inauguration. The simultaneous renewal of both the CFSP Decision and the implementing Regulation signals that the Council continues to view the situation as unresolved and the designated individuals as actively responsible for ongoing conduct. The expansion of the factual grounds in the updated listings, incorporating events from 2025, strengthens the legal basis for each designation and reduces vulnerability to legal challenge before the Court of Justice.
