Guatemala Congress to prioritize ministerial interpellations after court order

On 4 August 2026 Guatemala’s Constitutional Court issued a unanimous provisional amparo in favor of deputy Lourdes Teresita de León, ordering the Congress to schedule pending interpellations of 13 ministers. The court’s decision obliges the legislative body to set dates for each minister, who must then appear before the plenary and are barred from leaving the country until the process concludes.

Congress had already approved a calendar covering 12 interpellations from 27 August to 22 October, leaving only the Energy and Mines minister off the list. Teresita de León, a UNE deputy and daughter of former president Sandra Torres, promoted the majority of the requests, targeting ministries including Governance, Education, Health, Defense, Economy, Labor, Communications, Environment, Culture, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Agriculture. President Bernardo Arévalo warned that the executive had sought legal measures to prevent simultaneous interpellations, describing them as attempts to “harass and obstruct” the government.