II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 716 

To impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to combat corruption, money laundering, and impunity in 

Guatemala, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2019 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. MURPHY, 

and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human 

Rights Accountability Act to combat corruption, money 

laundering, and impunity in Guatemala, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guatemala Rule of 

5 Law Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

5 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

8 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

9 of Representatives. 

10 (2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per11 son’’ means a person that is not a United States 

12 person. 

13 (3) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

14 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 

15 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

16 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 

17 result. 

18 (4) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

19 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

20 (A) a natural person who is a citizen or 

21 resident of the United States or a national of 

22 the United States (as defined in section 101(a) 

23 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

24 U.S.C. 1101(a))); and 


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1 (B) an entity that is organized under the 

2 laws of the United States or any jurisdiction 

3 within the United States. 

4 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) The Department of State’s 2018 Inter7 national Narcotics Control Strategy Report stated 

8 that, in Guatemala, ‘‘widespread corruption per9 meates public and private institutions and exacer10 bates the country’s security, governmental, and eco11 nomic challenges’’. 

12 (2) The same report, discussing money laun13 dering in Guatemala, noted, ‘‘Drug trafficking is a 

14 major source of illicit funds. Other sources include 

15 corruption, extortion, human trafficking, commerce 

16 of other illicit goods, and tax evasion. Money is 

17 laundered primarily through real estate, ranching, 

18 and the gaming industry. It is also laundered 

19 through a series of small transactions below the U.S. 

20 $10,000 reporting requirement, either in small 

21 banks along the Guatemala-Mexico border, or by 

22 travelers carrying cash to other countries.’’. 

23 (3) On August 10, 2018, Guatemala’s Attorney 

24 General filed a request before the Supreme Court of 

25 Guatemala to remove the immunity of Guatemala’s 


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1 President, Jimmy Morales, so that he could be 

2 charged for the crime of illicit election financing, 

3 based on investigations carried out jointly by the Of4 fice of the Attorney General and the International 

5 Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (in this 

6 Act referred to as ‘‘CICIG’’). 

7 (4) In August 2018, the Guatemalan Supreme 

8 Court ruled that there was sufficient evidence for 

9 the Guatemalan Congress to decide if President Mo10 rales should be investigated for illicit election financ11 ing. 

12 (5) On September 4, 2018, the Government of 

13 Guatemala announced that it would no longer allow 

14 the Commissioner of CICIG to enter the country. 

15 (6) On January 7, 2019, the Government of 

16 Guatemala announced that it was terminating the 

17 agreement establishing CICIG effective immediately. 

18 (7) The United Nations responded that the Sec19 retary-General ‘‘strongly rejects’’ that announce20 ment, stating, ‘‘[T]he mandate of the Commission is 

21 set to end on 3 September 2019. Until that date, we 

22 expect the Government of Guatemala to entirely ful23 fill its legal obligations under the Agreement. The 

24 Secretary-General expects the Government of Guate25 mala to abide by its international undertakings to 


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1 ensure the protection of the CICIG personnel, both 

2 international and national.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. GLOBAL MAGNITSKY SANCTIONS AGAINST FOREIGN 

4 PERSONS THAT ENGAGE IN CORRUPTION 

5 AND OTHER ACTIVITIES IN GUATEMALA. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, and as appropriate 

8 thereafter, the President shall impose the sanctions de9 scribed in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign per10 son who is a current or former official of the Government 

11 of Guatemala, or is acting on behalf of or in cooperation 

12 with an official of that Government, if the President has 

13 credible information that the foreign person has know14 ingly— 

15 (1) committed or facilitated acts of significant 

16 corruption, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, 

17 or financing political campaigns with the proceeds of 

18 narcotics trafficking; 

19 (2) obstructed investigations or prosecutions of 

20 such acts; 

21 (3) used equipment transferred or licensed to 

22 be transferred by the United States Government in 

23 violation of an end-use agreement or otherwise for 

24 purposes other than the purposes for which such 


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1 equipment was transferred or licensed to be trans2 ferred; 

3 (4) disobeyed rulings of the Guatemalan Con4 stitutional Court, including rulings related to the 

5 conduct of elections; or 

6 (5) impeded or interfered with the work of any 

7 United States Government agency or any institution 

8 receiving contributions from the United States Gov9 ernment, including CICIG. 

10 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de11 scribed in this subsection are the sanctions described in 

12 section 1263(b) of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 

13 Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 

14 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note). 

15 (c) EXCEPTION FOR UNITED NATIONS HEAD16 QUARTERS AGREEMENT; ENFORCEMENT.—Subsections 

17 (e) and (f) of section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky 

18 Human Rights Accountability Act apply with respect to 

19 the imposition of sanctions under this section to the same 

20 extent as such subsections apply with respect to the impo21 sition of sanctions under such section 1263. 

22 (d) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 

23 15 days after imposing sanctions under subsection (a), the 

24 President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 


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1 committees a report regarding steps taken to implement 

2 this section. 

3 (e) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President shall 

4 issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are nec5 essary to carry out this section. 

6 (f) TERMINATION.—This section shall terminate on 

7 the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act. 

9 SEC. 5. CONDITIONS ON THE TRANSFER OF EQUIPMENT TO 

10 SECURITY FORCES OF GUATEMALA. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi12 nation with the Administrator of the United States Agen13 cy for International Development and the Secretary of De14 fense, as appropriate, shall include, in each contract, 

15 grant, license, or other mechanism entered into on or after 

16 the date that is 30 days after the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act that provides for the transfer to, or the transfer 

18 for use by, the military or national police of Guatemala 

19 any United States equipment a provision that ensures that 

20 the equipment may be recovered by the United States if 

21 the equipment is used in violation of an end-use agreement 

22 or otherwise for purposes other than the purposes for 

23 which the equipment was transferred. 

24 (b) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days after 

25 receiving a written request from the chairperson and rankVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S716.IS S716

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1 ing member of any of the appropriate congressional com2 mittees with respect to whether equipment transferred or 

3 licensed to be transferred to Guatemala by the United 

4 States Government has been used in violation of an end5 use agreement or otherwise for purposes other than the 

6 purposes for which the equipment was transferred, the 

7 President shall— 

8 (1) determine whether the equipment was so 

9 used; and 

10 (2) submit to the chairperson and ranking 

11 member of that committee a report with respect to 

12 that determination that includes— 

13 (A) a statement of whether or not the 

14 President has taken or intends to take remedial 

15 action, including as provided for under the 

16 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et 

17 seq.); and 

18 (B)(i) if the President has taken or intends 

19 to take remedial action, a description of that 

20 action; or 

21 (ii) if the President will not take remedial 

22 action, a detailed justification for why not. 

Æ 


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