Guatemala contender decries police raid on party HQ before crucial runoff

Semilla's Bernardo Arevalo, who came second in June election, condemns flagrant demonstration of the political persecution'

The Guatemalan presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo has denounced a police raid on his party headquarters as a corrupt" show of political persecution" just a month before the high-stakes runoff election.

Police raided the headquarters of Arevalo's Semilla party on Friday, saying it was carrying out a 12 July court order that had canceled the party's legal status.