Since last year the Competition Superintendence (Sicom) was installed; However, the premature resignation of the superintendent last March, five months after taking office, has imposed a shadow of delays and discussions on the entity, which cannot agree on the way in which they should choose the next superintendent.
In the absence of a new superintendent election, last week an amparo action was filed against the Sicom board, promoted by lawyer Ignacio Andrade Aycinena.
The measure seeks to require, through a legal mechanism, that the board of directors make an open call and choose the best profile from there. Another option that has been discussed in the board is to elect the superintendent from the list of director candidates made up by Congress.
In statements to Free presslawyer Andrade Aycinena, applicant for protection, explained that he filed the action on June 9 and is in the Fifth Chamber of the Administrative Litigation Court.
Instability
As competition superintendent Jorge Miguel Castillo Castro was elected in October 2025. He Last March 10, he presented his irrevocable resignation, arguing personal reasons; although he has not handed over the position and will do so until his replacement arrives.
The speaker explained that the objective of the protection is to force the institution to open a call and not through the list of candidates from the previous process, a model that, according to the lawyer, is already exhausted and is a mechanism that is outside the law.
Andrade Aycinena explained that the election must be a new process, based on article 50 of the Competition Law, which states that the superintendent will be appointed by the board of directors through a procedure established by this same body. He added that, according to his criteria, it is illegal to apply a transitional article for this election, in reference to article 115 of that same law, which was included to elect the first board of directors and the first superintendent.
The lawyer also explained that he acted against the board because by not having a superintendent, the entity will not be able to move forward and perform functions that must come into effect in December, such as investigating anti-competitive practices, sanctioning illegal conduct, authorizing mergers or exercising its supervisory functions; Furthermore, institutional development is impeded because it limits budget execution.
Lack of agreements
Javier Bauer and Édgar Guzmán, both regular directors of Sicom, denied having knowledge of the amparo action promoted by Andrade Aycinena. However, they did agree to explain that a final decision regarding the election of the superintendent has not yet been made by the board of directors.
CONTENT FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Bauer acknowledged that the election process is not moving forward because the director, Édgar Guzmán, filed a challenge against him, considering that he had advanced criteria regarding the election process during an interview published in Free press.
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Both Bauer and Velásquez clarified that the board decided not to admit the challenge presented by Guzmán; However, the director, in his right to petition, presented an appeal for reconsideration and the case was raised to the Attorney General’s Office (PGN), who has not yet resolved and, consequently, cannot advance in the election of superintendent.
Luis Velásquez, alternate director of Sicom, and Édgar Guzmán agreed that the entity’s work has not been delayed, as indicated by the person filing the protection. On the contrary, the board of directors is integrated and there is a superintendent.
The directors recalled that right now there are calls in process to elect the mayor and administrative director. They also recalled that there is an institutional strategic plan and an annual operational plan, and that the different actions that have been sent to the board of directors have been addressed with technical rigor. Sicom has assigned a budget of Q45 million for this year.
Bauer thinks differently. The director and president of the board warns that there is a delay due to the lack of election of the new superintendent. He recalled that although the Superintendency has a board that resolves, imposes sanctions and authorizes concentrations, there is also the superintendent, who is the administrative head and in charge of carrying out investigations.
“In the end, it is the superintendent who executes the budget, as the legal representative of the institution. The fact that a superintendent who has not been chosen to comply with those plans, with those goals and the vision, delays the fulfillment of the objectives of the Competition Law,” said Bauer.