GUATEMALA Law and Practice Contributed by: Ignacio Andrade Aycinena, Alejandro Solares Solares, Claudia Pontaza Rubio and Lester Meda Ruano, Lex Atlas
• Convention 175 of the ILO, under which part-time work is applicable in Guatemala, but which has generated uncertainties over its application, and for which there are law initiatives that seek to regulate it more efficiently; part-time work in Guatemala is legal, and there is a regulation for such work in Government Agreement 89-2019. In addition, a home office regulation has been issued There are no provisions for a national security review for foreign investments in Guatemala, for either acqui - sitions or mergers. An initiative for the regulation of this matter has been under discussion for more than three years in the Gua - temalan Congress but there are still no laws enacted except for existing regulations on restricted military items, chlorates, nitrates, ammunition, explosives, etc. The same is true regarding firearms and the importa - tion of nuclear residues. (Government Decree 79-2020). 2.6 National Security Review 3. Recent Legal Developments 3.1 Significant Court Decisions or Legal Developments Community Consultations and Mining Mayaniquel initiated arbitration procedures against the Ministry of Energy and Mines in lieu of the pro - jects operations suspension decreed by Ministry of the Environment. There have been no regulations enacted in mining and energy to determine how the consultation mech - anism of ILO Agreement 169 should be applied. The court has found insufficient consultation methods in these cases and the absence of clarity has affected investment in these areas. The government decided to undertake the consultation procedure and a state of emergency was declared in the zone. Cases Presented Before the Ministry of the Economy • Mayaniquel, a nickel Mining operator, made a request in October 2024 to submit a claim regard -
ing its mining operations in Izabal against the Government of Guatemalato ICCID Arbitration, and arbitration provisions are pending. • In Energía y Renovación Holding, S.A. v Guate - mala , concerning Hydroelectric construction in the Department of Huehuetenango, the government of Guatemala, in a divided decision, was found to be violating the Panama Guatemala foreign invest - ment protection treaty, with a penalty of USD65 million. • In December of 2025 an arbitration ruling in favour of the government was issued in lieu of the sus - pension of a mining licence for La Puya Projects in San Pedro Ayampuc; the claim was for USD499 million. Corruption Criminal corruption cases and irregular election financing criminal cases have had an impact on how transactions are structured, providing for between- parties relief and warranties in situations in which the target or their principals or agents are targets of the investigation or criminal proceedings. Locally, corrup - tion prosecution activities were reduced during 2025, and the government prosecutor discontinued pros - ecution in most major corruption cases. However, the authorities have started to focus on the prosecution and incarceration of those who, in the past, have been anti-corruption prosecutors or judges. Tax A law enacted in November 2024 requiring companies to disclose their shareholders with their tax identifica - tion numbers and their stake in the company annually was declared unconstitutional in an April 2025 ruling. Currently, the Guatemalan Congress is considering a new law for the public disclosure and registration of company shareholders. In a recent interpretation, the tax authorities, have pre - sumed that any cash transaction between a company and its shareholders in which payments are made to the latter constitutes a dividend payment subject to withholding tax unless it can be proven with docu - mentary evidence that the transaction was made for other economic purposes.
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