GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -Guatemalan police on Wednesday detained Luis Pacheco, the nation’s deputy energy minister and a former Indigenous leader accused of terrorism and illicit association.
Pacheco previously headed Los 48 Cantones, an Indigenous organization of the Totonicapan people, in the western part of the country and led demonstrations in support of now-President Bernardo Arevalo.
“I have done nothing wrong in my entire life that I could be accused of,” Pacheco said as he entered the courtroom in handcuffs.
Hector Chaclan, who had previously been treasurer of the Indigenous group, was also detained.
Arevalo, speaking in a press conference after a search of Pacheco’s house had begun, called the act a “cruel blow” against the people of Guatemala.
Pacheco had backed Arevalo in demonstrations after prosecutors attempted to invalidate his 2023 election win.
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Editing by Natalia Siniawski and Kylie Madry)
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