The Constitutional Court (CC) confirmed the expulsion of Adrián Camilo García Floresstudent of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy of the University of San Carlos (Usac)to the dismiss the appeal which he presented against the sentence issued by the Fifth Chamber of the Administrative Litigation Court.
With that resolution, the sanction imposed by the Higher University Council (CSU)which in January 2023 resolved expel him after a disciplinary process initiated in the context of the university crisis derived from the choice of Walter Mazariegos as rector.
Garcia Flores He was a student representative before the CSU and participated in the actions to reject the rector election process, which various university sectors described as irregular.
The decision to expel him has since been questioned by student and human rights organizations, who consider it a retaliation for his participation in the defense of university autonomy, while the university authorities maintained that the sanction responded to the corresponding disciplinary procedure.
The CC resolution It was adopted by a majority of three judges against two. Due to the restraining order of two regular magistrates, the court was made up of substitute magistrates to hear the file.
The magistrates Astrid Lemus and Dina Ochoa They refrained from hearing the file, and the plenary session was made up of the substitute magistrates Luis Fernando Bermejo and Claudia Paniagua.
They voted to dismiss the appeal Roberto Molina Barreto, Julia Rivera and Claudia Paniaguawhile Bermejo and Anabella Morfín cast dissenting votes.
In the case of Judge Lemus, she recused herself from hearing the case because she had previously defended Camilo García. In contrast, the Judge Julia Rivera participated in the vote, despite the fact that different sectors point out that her ex-husband, Luis Cordonserves as general secretary of the Usac. Rivera voted in favor of confirming the challenged resolution.
Julia Rivera, CC magistrate, supported her ex-husband, Luis Cordón, Secretary of USAC, in the case of Camilo García, a student who sought to annul his expulsion. Astrid Lemus, also a judge, was García’s lawyer but she did distance herself from the files unlike Rivera. pic.twitter.com/ydYoU0VXKt
—Douglas Cuevas (@dcuevas_pl) July 29, 2026
In addition to his expulsion as an administrative sanction, student García Flores has also faced criminal proceedings in the Toma Usac case promoted by the Public Ministry against students, teachers and professionals linked to the seizure of university facilities that occurred in 2022.
Theme arrives fully
The situation around San Carlos was also a topic of discussion this Wednesday, July 29, in the Congress of the Republic, in response to complaints from students who claim that their academic records were expunged of the university system.
Deputy Raúl Barrera tried to get the Plenary to know a draft Legislative Agreement to require Usac to make transparent the disciplinary sanctions and blocking of student records applied since August 2022. The proposal also contemplated requiring information on the university’s private security contracts, the inventory of weapons and the legal validity of minutes issued by the Rector’s Office.
However, the motion to add the matter to the agenda did not obtain the necessary support during the session. The proposal received 43 votes in favor, 59 against and 58 deputies absent, Therefore, it did not advance to the discussion phase of the legislative agreement.
During the extraordinary plenary session of the Congress of the Republic, deputy Raúl Barrera presented a motion for the Legislature to request a report from the University of San Carlos of Guatemala (USAC) on the process of electing the rector and the expulsion of… pic.twitter.com/5WwGnJMQIH
— Oscar Vásquez Mijangos (@oa_vasquezz) July 29, 2026
They ask for the termination of the PDH
In parallel, a group of deputies sent a letter to the president of the Congressional Human Rights Commission, Dámaris Carolina Cerna Acevedo, to request the initiation of the procedure that could lead to the cessation of Human Rights OmbudsmanJosé Alejandro Córdova Herrera.
The legislators argue that, since the beginning of the university crisis in April 2022, expulsions of students, blocking of academic records, criminal prosecution and other measures that they consider retaliation against members of the university community have been reported, without the PDH having effectively exercised its constitutional functions of protection and supervision.
In the letter they also request that the commission require a detailed report from the Attorney General, compile the actions carried out by that institution since August 2022 in relation to the USAC, convene public hearings with representatives of the university community and prepare a technical evaluation on the performance of the magistrate of conscience.
As part of the argument, the deputies cite observations from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which—they claim—evidence deficiencies in the actions of the Attorney General’s Office regarding complaints related to the public university crisis. Likewise, they maintain that university autonomy does not exempt institutions from compliance with the constitutional order nor does it limit the supervisory powers that correspond to the PDH.