Rift between Cabal and Arzú parties marks the first moves toward the 2027 elections in Guatemala

Roberto Arzú with the municipal team of CABAL in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango. (Roberto Arzú) Guatemala's political map is beginning to shift nine months ahead of the 2027 general elections, with ruptures and realignments that anticipate the contest for presidential candidacies. The most recent case is that of the Cabal party and politician Roberto Arzú García-Granados, who through a press statement confirmed on the night of Tuesday, September 29, the end of an alliance that, until a few months ago, was projected as the platform for the businessman's third presidential run. Cabal's National Executive Committee, an organization led by Congressman Luis Aguirre, announced in a statement that Arzú had left the party's Secretariat of Political Training and Development, in a decision it described as made "by mutual agreement." The text did not detail the reasons for the separation and merely thanked him for "the time, willingness, and work carried out" during the outgoing leader's tenure. The official call for the elections is scheduled for January 22, 2027, and the registration of candidacies with the Registry of Citizens will begin the following day. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal set the first round for June 27, 2027, and established that registration will extend until March 20. Roberto Arzú with the municipal team of CABAL in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango, Guatemala (Roberto Arzú) Ten months of an alliance without an official candidacy Arzú joined Cabal in November 2025, during the organization's National Assembly. The alliance aimed to make him the party's presidential candidate, although it was never formalized before the electoral authorities. The businessman, son of former president Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen, had competed for the presidency in 2019 and 2023. In his second run, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal excluded him from the race over accusations of premature campaigning. Some Guatemalan media had positioned him as Cabal's possible candidate for 2027 and expected a party confirmation in November. In an interview with El Mundo, Arzú had said that, if he reached power, he intended to "apply the Bukele model, even stronger." The separation became known about 22 hours after a post by the politician about a party activity in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango. "A pleasure to welcome the great municipal team of Cabal from Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango. Thank you for the visit, the affection, and the gifts. We continue working together and strengthening this great team," he wrote at the time, without alluding to a possible departure. The National Executive Committee of the CABAL Political Party of Guatemala announces the conclusion of Roberto Arzú's functions at the head of the Secretariat of Political Training and Development. (CABAL Party) Arzú made no public statement about the communiqué after its release. Although he has been a regular user of social media, in Guatemala his absence had already been noticed in recent activities of the organization, as he had undertaken a tour of at least three weeks outside the country. La Hora recalled that on September 20, images circulated of Cabal leaders at an event the businessman did not attend. Those absences preceded the confirmation that he would leave the party secretariat. The rapprochement between Arzú and Cabal was also surrounded by questions about his relationship with Francisco Edgar Domínguez Higueros, known as "Paco." Guatemalan authorities identified him as the leader of the structure called "Los Caradura" and linked him to drug trafficking investigations; Domínguez Higueros died in an attack in 2025. Added to that background was a La Hora publication of August 28, which reported, based on sources consulted, that Arzú had reportedly been restricted from traveling by air to the United States. The politician denied that version: "No. Not at all. No, man… What do you mean? I just was in New York and Washington." Cabal will have to resolve its presidential strategy before the deadline for registering candidates expires, while Arzú is left without the party from which he had projected to compete again for the Executive.