III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 244 

Expressing support for free, fair, and transparent elections in the Republic 

of Guatemala in order to increase prosperity, security, and access to 

justice for all Guatemalans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2019 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for free, fair, and transparent elections 

in the Republic of Guatemala in order to increase prosperity, security, and access to justice for all Guatemalans. 

Whereas Guatemala will hold general elections on June 16, 

2019, and more than 7,600,000 Guatemalans are registered to vote for their next president, vice president, 

congressional representatives, and more than 300 mayors 

around the country; 

Whereas, in the process leading up to the elections in Guatemala, there have been a series of troubling developments 

related to presidential candidates, with 6 of the 24 candidates facing allegations related to illicit activities, and 

at least 4 candidates having been excluded from the race; 


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•SRES 244 IS 

Whereas, on April 17, 2019, Mario Estrada, a Guatemalan 

presidential candidate with the center-right National 

Change Union political party, was arrested in the United 

States and charged by the Department of Justice with 

conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, soliciting millions of dollars from the Sinaloa Drug Cartel, 

and other firearms offenses; 

Whereas the case of Mario Estrada highlights the existence 

of linkages between certain Guatemalan political actors 

and transnational criminal organizations, and the manner 

in which such criminal organizations have sought to influence the Guatemalan political system; 

Whereas, on May 15, 2019, a Guatemalan court issued a politically motivated ruling that Thelma Aldana—Guatemala’s former Attorney General who led efforts to tackle 

corruption in Guatemala—was ineligible to run in Guatemala’s presidential election; 

Whereas, according to Guatemalan media, approximately 150 

candidates running for a seat in Guatemala’s legislature 

have been cited with irregularities, including having received suspicious government contracts, not meeting electoral requirements, and possible linkages to narcotics 

trafficking; 

Whereas Guatemala has a long history of debilitating corruption due to the pervasive influence of narcotics trafficking 

and organized crime, with the Department of State estimating earlier this decade that as much as 80 percent of 

the cocaine that eventually reached the United States had 

passed through Guatemala; 

Whereas Guatemala’s endemic corruption and criminality led 

to the 2006 agreement that established the United NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR244.IS SR244

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•SRES 244 IS 

tions International Commission Against Impunity in 

Guatemala (CICIG) as an independent body tasked with 

working with the Public Ministry to combat corruption, 

organized crime, and institutional impunity; 

Whereas the United States Government provided considerable 

funding and political support for CICIG during both Republican and Democratic administrations, yet the Trump 

Administration has been notably silent on President Morales’ efforts to undermine CICIG; 

Whereas a May 2019 report to Congress by the Department 

of State stated that Guatemala, with the support of 

CICIG since 2007, previously took steps ‘‘to root out 

clandestine networks of corrupt actors, including the uncovering of a massive corruption scheme in 2015 led by 

former President Perez-Molina and former Vice President 

Baldetti’’; 

Whereas the May 2019 report also noted setbacks to Guatemala’s fight against corruption and stated that ‘‘since announcing in 2018 it would not renew the [CICIG’s] mandate, the Guatemalan Government has impeded anti-corruption efforts, attacked judicial independence, and misused U.S.-donated equipment’’; 

Whereas setbacks to the fight against corruption weaken the 

rule of law and democratic governance in Guatemala; 

Whereas weak rule of law, violence, corruption, human rights 

abuses, impunity, and failure to take effective actions to 

ameliorate widespread poverty in Guatemala contribute to 

the outflow of refugees and migrants towards the United 

States, including the more than 165,000 Guatemalan nationals who have been apprehended on the United StatesMexico border during the current fiscal year alone; 


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•SRES 244 IS 

Whereas it is in the strategic interest of the United States 

to support free, fair, and transparent elections and encourage continued efforts to strengthen the rule of law 

and democratic governance in Guatemala; and 

Whereas the Trump Administration announced in March 

2019 that it will reprogram United States assistance for 

Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, thereby undermining the ability of the United States Government to 

address challenges to security, the rule of law, and economic development in the Northern Triangle of Central 

America: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the people of Guatemala as they 

3 prepare to exercise their fundamental democratic 

4 right to vote in their country’s upcoming June 16, 

5 2019, general elections; 

6 (2) encourages all Guatemalan political actors 

7 and institutions to take continued steps to uphold a 

8 free, fair, and transparent electoral process; 

9 (3) expresses grave concerns about— 

10 (A) the involvement of certain Guatemalan 

11 presidential candidates in illicit activities; 

12 (B) efforts by international criminal orga13 nizations to influence the Guatemalan political 

14 system; 

15 (C) the politically motivated disqualifica16 tion of certain competitive, independent canVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR244.IS SR244

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•SRES 244 IS 

1 didates in order to restrict the choices available 

2 to the people of Guatemala; and 

3 (D) ongoing evidence of corruption of offi4 cials that permitted an estimated 1400 metric 

5 tons of cocaine to pass through Guatemala des6 tined for the United States last year; 

7 (4) encourages Guatemalan presidential can8 didates to commit to taking strong and sustained ac9 tion following the election to strengthen the rule of 

10 law, combat corruption and impunity, and address 

11 human rights abuses and the underlying conditions 

12 of poverty in the country; 

13 (5) urges the next president of Guatemala to 

14 take effective steps to strengthen the rule of law, ad15 dress the influence of criminal organizations and 

16 drug cartels on Guatemala’s political system, and 

17 combat corruption and impunity, including by rees18 tablishing the mandate of the United Nations Inter19 national Commission Against Impunity in Guate20 mala (CICIG); 

21 (6) condemns the efforts of President of Guate22 mala Jimmy Morales to expel and undermine 

23 CICIG; 

24 (7) expresses dismay about the Trump Admin25 istration’s failure to demonstrate America’s commitVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR244.IS SR244

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•SRES 244 IS 

1 ment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of 

2 law in Guatemala; and 

3 (8) opposes the Trump Administration’s deci4 sion to reprogram United States assistance to Gua5 temala, El Salvador, and Honduras. 

Æ 


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