A judge in Quetzaltenango has issued a decision to amend the procedure in five previous rulings that favored the Instituto Nacional de Electrificación (INDE) regarding a longstanding debt with the Municipality of Quetzaltenango. These cases, initiated by INDE in 2006, 2011, 2012, 2017, and 2021, sought payment of 1.7 billion quetzales for energy supplied to the Empresa Eléctrica Municipal de Quetzaltenango.
All court decisions up to now had ordered the municipality to pay INDE. In August, as part of enforcing these judgments, the municipal council was instructed to include a payment of 700 million quetzales in its 2026 budget as part of settling the historic debt.
The recent ruling by the First Civil Court of First Instance in Quetzaltenango reversed this direction by rejecting INDE’s claims through an amendment of procedures. The press release states: "With abuse of authority, for being res judicata, a judge exceeded his powers and violated the law by resolving through amendment of procedures to reject INDE's claims that had concluded in final judgment."
INDE has responded by filing legal appeals against these new resolutions and is seeking that appropriate action be taken against the judge involved. According to INDE: "The debt that the municipality of Quetzaltenango refuses to pay, with unfounded arguments, affects most people in Guatemala because it is equivalent to two years of INDE's contribution to the social tariff that benefits millions of families throughout the country. The most serious thing is that judges continue destroying legal certainty in Guatemala."
INDE has stated it will keep citizens informed about further actions taken in this case as it seeks to defend both national interests and rule of law.
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