Guatemala City - Guatemala's top court
said on Monday that it had barred the daughter of former
military dictator Efrain Rios Montt from taking part in
presidential elections in June.
The Constitutional Court rejected a challenge by Montt's
daughter, right-wing politician Zury Rios, to a lower court's
decision to block her candidacy, basing its decision on an
article of the constitution that bars close relatives of coup
leaders from top office.
"The measure limiting a close relative from assuming the
position of president or vice president of the republic is
logical because it prioritizes the common good over individual
interest," the court said in a statement.
A lawyer for Rios, who was vying to succeed President Jimmy
Morales, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rios said in an interview with local television that she had not
yet been formally notified of the decision and would pursue an
international appeal.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal will have 24 hours to revoke
Rios' registration, Martin Guzman, the constitutional court's
secretary general, said in a press conference.
The constitution prohibits relatives within four degrees of
the architects of coups, armed revolutions and similar movements
from seeking the nation's top offices, the constitutional court
said.
Rios, who had planned to represent the Valor party, also
sought the presidency in 2015. She was among the frontrunners
for the presidency but trailed behind Thelma Aldana, the former
attorney general, in polls.
Her father, Rios Montt, was convicted in 2013 of genocide
and crimes against humanity. But barely a week later, judges
overturned the sentence.
Rios Montt, who headed a junta that removed President Angel
Guevara from power in 1982, died last year at the age of 91.