GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala’s president has chosen a replacement for the country’s top prosecutor, who has spearheaded high-level corruption investigations, including one that landed a former president behind bars.

Jimmy Morales’ office says in a statement that Maria Consuelo Porras Argueta will take over from Thelma Aldana on May 16, after Aldana’s term ends.

It said Thursday that she will “push a policy of objective, impartial and independent criminal prosecution.”

Porras will be responsible for continuing a number of cases, including one against Morales, who is suspected of illicit electoral financing. There is also a pending case against his son and brother for purported fraud and money laundering. </s> President Jimmy Morales chose a replacement Thursday for chief prosecutor Thelma Aldana, whose investigations earned her renown as an anti-corruption crusader and netted a number of high-level figures including a former president.

Morales' office announced in a statement that Maria Consuelo Porras Argueta will take over from Aldana on May 16, after Aldana's four-year term ends.

It said that Porras is qualified and will "push a policy of objective, impartial and independent criminal prosecution."

"We will be respectful of the law and very objective," Porras said in an impromptu news conference.

She will be responsible for a number of ongoing cases including two against Morales on suspicion of illicit electoral financing and receiving some $61,000 in bonuses from the army. There is also a pending case against his son and brother for purported fraud and money laundering.

Porras also said she would work with a U.N.-sponsored commission that has been crucial in pressing graft investigations in the country, as well as its head, Ivan Velasquez, who has been at odds with Morales due to his attempts to investigate the president along with the prosecutor's office under Aldana.

The work of Velasquez and the commission, known as Cicig, "has been very important for the country," Porras said.

Porras, 64, is a lawyer with more than 30 years in the profession and currently an alternate magistrate for the Constitutional Court.

Under Guatemalan law the president selects the chief prosecutor from a list of six candidates nominated by a commission made up of the Supreme Court president and law school deans.

One of numerous probes under Aldana led to the resignation of then-President Otto Perez Molina and his vice president, both of whom are behind bars. They have also denied wrongdoing. </s> SHARE

Guatemala President Jimmy Morales has chosen a new attorney general whose judicial independence has been questioned, a decision that comes as little surprise given the administration’s ramped-up efforts to derail the fight against graft.

In a statement posted on an official Twitter account on May 3, the Guatemalan government announced that Morales had chosen María Consuelo Porras Argueta to replace current Attorney General Thelma Aldana.

“I am convinced that the new attorney general fulfills the professional characteristics and qualifications inherent to the position, in addition to having a plan that will permit the strengthening and broadening of the capacities of the Attorney General’s Office,” Morales wrote in the statement.

Aldana, and her predecessor Claudia Paz y Paz, led historic efforts to go after high level officials, former military officers and economic powers involved in graft, criminal schemes, and human rights violations. Ahead of the decision, several top officials in the Attorney General’s Office resigned their positions, although it’s not clear if those departures were in response to Porras Argueta’s impending appointment as head of the country’s top prosecutorial body.

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Porras Argueta, an alternate judge on the Constitutional Court, has been tentatively linked to elite networks with an interest in upending the hard-driving anti-corruption investigations carried out in recent years by the Attorney General’s Office and a United Nations-backed judicial support mission known as the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala – CICIG).

Just minutes after the announcement of Porras Argueta’s selection, allies of the president began to express hope that she could roll back the progress made under her predecessor.

“The new attorney general should investigate Thelma Aldana,” said Vice President of Congress Felipe Alejos in comments reported by Canal Antigua.

Still, the new attorney general received an overall score of 75 points out of a possible total of 100 during the selection process, tied for the highest amongst the final candidates. And in a press conference, Porras Argueta said she would continue to cooperate with the CICIG.

For its part, the CICIG released a statement congratulating Porras Argueta and expressing “confidence” that the body would “continue working in close cooperation with the Attorney General’s Office in combating impunity, as well as strengthening judicial institutions and the culture of lawfulness in Guatemala.”

InSight Crime Analysis

The selection of Porras Argueta as Guatemala’s next attorney general was expected by many observers who spoke to InSight Crime during its months-long investigation of the process, particularly given the renewed vigor with which the Morales administration has dug in against investigations by the Attorney General’s Office and the CICIG that have ensnared the president and his allies.

In late 2017, after prosecutors announced an investigation into alleged illegal financing of Morales’ 2016 presidential run, the president sparked a political crisis by trying to expel CICIG commissioner Iván Velásquez. That move failed, but Congress nevertheless voted to protect Morales from further investigation and attempted to pass a reform to protect themselves from graft-related prosecutions. Congress was forced to retract the so-called “impunity pact” after widespread public outcry.

Last month, however, the Attorney General’s Office and the CICIG revealed a new round of illicit campaign financing accusations against Morales and his political party, the National Convergence Front (Frente de Convergencia Nacional – FCN). Local business leaders issued a public apology for their part in the scandal, lending credence to the allegations.

But rather than allowing justice to run its course, Morales and his allies launched an intense counterattack. Shortly after the announcement of the second round of the investigation, Morales published a video on Twitter accusing the Attorney General’s Office and CICIG of “abuse of authority, arrogance and violation of several of the country’s criminal laws” during a November 2016 raid on the presidential residence.

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Around the same time, a bizarre and baseless narrative about supposed Russian influence over the CICIG began to resurface, even sparking an official US government hearing on the issue. Before the announcement of Porras Argueta’s selection, some of the most vehement groups fighting against anti-corruption efforts had called for a march on May 5 to demand Velásquez’s removal from Guatemala.

To be sure, Porras Argueta’s appointment may be an effort by Morales to shore up his position in the face of several important blows to his political legitimacy and capital. The president been hit by multiple rounds of corruption allegations. He also lost a key ally in Álvaro Arzú, the former president of Guatemala and once powerful mayor of Guatemala City who died recently.

Still, Porras Argueta’s appointment is not the end of the story. While it seems Morales is attempting to protect himself from anti-graft investigations, Porras Argueta may prove to be an independent actor, much like the current Attorney General Aldana.

When Aldana was selected in 2014, InSight Crime declared it a “blow to anti-impunity campaigners” since Aldana was thought to be beholden to then-President Otto Pérez Molina and his criminal networks. Aldana, however, surprised her boss, who is now in jail along with a slew of his former cabinet members and others from his government facing charges of corruption.

* This article was written with the assistance of Felipe Puerta and Héctor Silva Ávalos </s> MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Guatemalan government official said on Tuesday that a judge has issued an arrest order for former attorney general Thelma Aldana, who helped lead investigations into top politicians including the current president.

Aldana worked with a U.N.-backed anti-corruption body that sought to impeach President Jimmy Morales. </s> March 20 (UPI) -- A Guatemalan judge ordered the arrest of Thelma Aldana, a former attorney general and current presidential candidate.

Aldana, who is running in the June elections, faces an arrest order for three charges including customs fraud and theft, newspapers including Prensa Libre and La Hora reported Tuesday.

Guatemalan police, however, may not be able to detain her because she is already been registered as a presidential contender -- a status that prevents her arrest in the country.

"They are manipulating to prevent my participation in the electoral process because they are afraid of my participation," Aldana said in a Tuesday night tweet. Aldana previously worked with a U.N. anti-corruption commission investigating Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales. She reiterated her belief in Morales' role as head of a corruption scheme in a Tuesday night interview with CNN Spanish.

"They know I will continue my fight against corruption and many are trembling because of this is Guatemala," Aldana added on Twitter.

The Guatemalan comptroller accused Aldana of creating a false position for a consultant, who was paid $1 million from the InterAmerican Development Bank.

According to Guatemalan law, the case is now under strict reserve and neither party can make comments before March 28, La Hora newspaper said.

Aldana was Guatemala's top prosecutor between 2014 and 2018. Her investigations succeeded in jailing former President Otto Perez and his vice president, Roxana Baldetti.

Aldana has been described by the United Nations as a champion of women's rights.

According to La Hora, Aldana was believed to be outside Guatemala as of Tuesday night. </s> Prosecutors in Guatemala say they have opened a corruption investigation into a former chief prosecutor who is soon to be named a candidate in the June 16 presidential elections.

The Seed Movement party is planning to name Thelma Aldana as its candidate this weekend. Polls show Aldana would probably run second in the race.

Prosecution spokeswoman Julia Barrera would not say Friday what charges the investigation involves, but said it was related to a case of irregular hiring of personnel.

If Aldana is arrested or charged, it could effectively prevent her from running.

The 63-year-old Aldana was Guatemala's top prosecutor from 2014 to 2018. Her biggest successes were the jailing of former President Otto Perez Molina and most of his Cabinet on corruption charges. Perez Molina resigned in 2015. </s> GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala’s former attorney general Thelma Aldana will seek to overturn a decision from the country’s top elections authority that would prevent the anti-corruption crusader from running for president, a top aide said on Tuesday.

A little over two months from the June vote, the electoral court rejected Aldana’s candidacy in a decision announced on Monday that cited an arrest warrant issued against her, which alleged irregularities during her tenure as chief prosecutor.

The electoral court case against Aldana, who served as attorney general from 2014 to 2018, was pursued by her political opponents.

Among the presidential front-runners in recent polls, Aldana has denied the charges and dismissed them as politically motivated.

“Why are there so many attacks? Because she represents a serious threat to the various economic, political and illicit interests that operate in the country,” Rotman Perez, Aldana’s campaign manager, told Reuters.

Perez said Aldana will opt for one of two options: ask the country’s Supreme Court to reinstate her on the ballot or seek an appeal with the Constitutional Court, Guatemala’s top judicial body.

He did not say when the presidential hopeful would make her next move.

Aldana, 63, leads the left-of-center Seed Movement party and is currently in neighboring El Salvador due to what she has described as political persecution.

Aldana led the field of presidential candidates with 28 percent ahead of the June 16 election in a recent Mitofsky poll, outpacing Zury Rios, the daughter of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, and former First Lady Sandra Torres.

During her tenure as Guatemala’s top law enforcement official, Aldana helped uncover corruption cases that led to the conviction and imprisonment of ex-President Otto Perez.

She has also been a vocal supporter of the U.N.-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG.

Current President Jimmy Morales, who has been a target of CICIG investigators, has ordered the body to end its work and leave the country. </s> GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - A Guatemalan court said Tuesday that an arrest warrant has been issued for a former Guatemalan prosecutor who is running for president.

But because Thelma Aldana was formally registered Tuesday by the election board as a candidate in the June elections, under Guatemalan law she has immunity from prosecution.

Aldana was nominated by the Seed Movement party and is running second in polls.

A spokeswoman for Guatemala's Supreme Court said the warrant against Aldana is related to a corruption investigation involving illegal hiring.

Aldana, 63, was Guatemala's top prosecutor from 2014 to 2018. During that time, she jailed then-President Otto Perez Molina and most of his Cabinet on corruption charges. Perez Molina resigned in 2015.

Thelma Aldana, Guatemala's former chief prosecutor, listens to a journalist's question as she gives a press conference during her campaign event for president in Guatemala City, Sunday, March 10, 2019. Aldana is a candidate with The Seed Movement party ahead of June 16 presidential elections. (AP Photo/Oliver de Ros) </s> GUATEMALA CITY — The Latest on the effort by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales to expel the head of a U.N. anti-corruption agency (all times local):

Guatemala's chief prosecutor Thelma Aldana says she's giving unconditional support to the head of a U.N. anti-corruption commission who the president has ordered to leave the country.

Adana issued a statement late Sunday saying the Court's order suspending the president's expulsion order for Ivan Velasquez must be obeyed. She's worked closely with Velasquez.

President Jimmy Morales plunged the country into a crisis Sunday by standing firm on his order to remove Velasquez even after the court suspended the order.

Now Guatemalans will watch the courts closely to see what the definitive ruling is on Velasquez and whether Morales' immunity will be lifted as Aldana and Velasquez requested on Friday.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales appoints María Consuelo Porras as Attorney General and Chief of the Public Ministry to replace Thelma Aldana.