By Sofia Menchu
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -The U.S. and European Union warned of a threat to democracy in Guatemala after a court suspended an anti-corruption party whose candidate is bidding for the presidency next month and threatening to take on the country's political establishment.
On Thursday morning, prosecutors raided the electoral court's citizen registry office in a probe into the Semilla party, which they allege has more than 5,000 illegally affiliated members, including 12 deceased people.
The suspension "threatens the basic foundations of democracy," the EU electoral mission in the Central American country said in a statement, noting that courts had used "dubious" legal means to interfere in the election.
Guatemala's electoral court, which this week ratified the first round results which put Semilla's Bernardo Arevalo against former First Lady Sandra Torres in a run-off, said it would use all tools to fight judicial interference.
"If votes are not respected, there is no democracy," the tribunal said in a statement.
Chile and Norway also flagged concerns, urging authorities to ensure the two finalists from the first round face off in the decisive Aug. 20 run-off vote.
The contest to succeed President Alejandro Giammattei, who by law cannot run again, has sparked international criticism after other opposition candidates were disqualified.
The controversy over the election, whose official results were delayed by Semilla's adversaries, has aggravated concerns over democracy and the justice system in Guatemala. The electoral tribunal on Wednesday confirmed the first round results.
Corruption allegations have dogged successive administrations, and the U.S., Guatemala's top trade partner and a key source of remittances, has repeatedly criticized what it views as efforts to impede a clean-up of government.
Polls had shown Arevalo - an ex-diplomat and son of former Guatemalan President Juan Jose Arevalo - as a distant outsider ahead of the first round on June 25.
But his surprise second-place finish has led many analysts to believe he could capture the presidency.
On Thursday, Arevalo said he would challenge the move against Semilla, which he claims violates a Guatemalan law preventing political parties being suspended during an election.
"We are in the electoral race, we are moving forward and we will not be stopped by this corrupt group," Arevalo said.
Arevalo said after the suspension his party was aware of a falsified signature and that Semilla itself in March reported the person responsible. However, the party was never allowed access to the case file, he said.
On Wednesday night, after the suspension, a senior U.S. official warned of a threat to democracy.
"We are deeply concerned by threats to Guatemala's electoral democracy. Institutions must respect the will of voters," Brian A. Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said on Twitter.
Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, whose anti-impunity office requested Semilla's suspension, has previously targeted anti-graft campaigners and has been placed on the U.S. State Department's Engel List for "corrupt and undemocratic actors."
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland, Stephen Eisenhammer and Josie Kao)
