GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan prosecutors have launched an investigation into a presidential candidate, six lawmakers and a cabinet minister on suspicion of corruption, the U.N.-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) said late on Monday.

The Guatemalan attorney general’s office and the CICIG said in a joint statement the eight oversaw approval and distribution of bribes worth $7.5 million for 62 deputies between 2012-2015 during the administration of former President Otto Perez.

Perez and his former vice president Roxana Baldetti are now in prison and being tried on corruption charges. Both, who are members of the conservative Patriot Party, deny any wrongdoing.

All eight people under investigation belonged to the Patriot Party in the last administration. The presidential candidate, Estuardo Galdamez, is now seeking the job for President Jimmy Morales’ conservative National Convergence Front (FCN).

According to the CICIG, bribes were distributed from Baldetti’s office to trusted Patriot Party deputies and were used to secure approval of certain laws and judicial appointments.

Galdamez on Tuesday posted a statement on Twitter from the FCN rejecting the accusations made against him.

The CICIG and the attorney general’s office are also investigating Economy Minister Acisclo Valladares on suspicion of money laundering and other crimes as part of the probe.

Valladares did not reply to a request for comment. The lawmakers accused by the CICIG could either not be reached for comment or rejected the allegations in local media.

CICIG investigations led to the downfall of Perez in 2015 and the anti-graft body also went after Morales, alleging he broke campaign finance rules during his presidential run. But it failed to secure enough votes in Congress to impeach him.

Morales accused the CICIG of abusing its power and refused to renew its mandate, which will end in September.

Guatemala holds a general election in June. Last month, one presidential candidate was arrested in the United States, accused of making deals with the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico. </s> Guatemala’s fight against corruption has intensified with the arrest of a former president and nine of his ex-ministers.

Alvaro Colom and members of his former cabinet are suspected of having embezzled funds and committed fraud while helping set up a public bus system in Guatemala City in 2010.

Ivan Velasquez, head of Guatemala’s international commission against impunity (CICIG), said on Tuesday: “[Colom] intervened personally and institutionally to facilitate the fraudulent procedure of creating the agreement.”

Prosecutors said there are questions around how the government auctioned off concessions and granted subsidies for the buses.

The current chairman of Oxfam International and former Guatemalan finance minister Juan Alberto Fuentes was among those arrested.

Fuentes detention comes as Oxfam is already reeling from a sexual abuse scandal in Haiti and elsewhere.

Guatemala is no stranger to corruption scandals. Over the past decade, international investigators have been working with local prosecutors to peel back the layers of corruption that plague the small Central American country.

He is now on trial, accused of stealing millions of dollars from the country’s customs offices.

Current president, Jimmy Morales, tried to kick out Velasquez after he pushed to remove Morales’ immunity to face prosecution in another corruption investigation.

Analysts say these political arrests are far from over.

“I think the CICIG and the Attorney General’s office are just scratching the surface of this issue,” said Arturo Matute of the International Crisis Group.

“Without a doubt there are many more investigations under way which will take years to uncover.”

The upcoming selection of a new attorney general will be pivotal if these investigations are to continue.

Experts say Guatemalans need to be vigilant to ensure the country’s next top prosecutor has their interests at heart, and not those of the political elite. </s> Guatemala City, Guatemala - The government of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has said it is withdrawing from a UN-backed anti-corruption commission and is giving the body's staff 24 hours to leave the country, in a move that drew criticism from human rights groups and constitutional lawyers.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Morales accused the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, commonly known as CICIG, of polarising the country and putting its security at risk, as well as violating human rights and being allied with criminal structures and "terrorists".

"The State of Guatemala terminates the agreement with CICIG because of the serious violation of national and international laws," Morales said in Guatemala City, adding that his government had waited 16 months for the UN to respond to their complaints.

"The CICIG has put at risk the sovereignty of the people of Guatemala," Morales said, accusing the UN of not "seeking solutions" to alleged violations.

Morales made the comments surrounded by the families of those he asserts are falsely accused by the CICIG, including a Russian family which was prosecuted and sentenced to seven years in prison for using a falsified Guatemalan passport.

Ahead of the press conference, Sandra Jovel, Guatemala's minister of foreign affairs, had informed UN chief Antonio Guterres of the unilateral decision.

"The agreement is finalised," Jovel told reporters. "We hope the secretary-general will respect of sovereignty."

The CICIG was formed in 2006 upon the request of the Guatemalan government to combat high rates of impunity for crimes. It was ratified by the country's legislative branch in 2007 following a massive police scandal.

The commission's 2015 corruption investigation in the administration of Otto Perez Molina led to the resignation of the former president, who is currently facing criminal charges.

Morales utilised an anti-corruption platform in the country's 2015 election, promising voters he was "not corrupt, or a thief". Yet he and his family have faced corruption allegations since taking office in January 2016.

Allies of Morales in the country's Congress led by Estuardo Galdamez, of the FCN-Nacion party, had called on the president to unilaterally repeal the law that formed the body. Many congressional members are currently under investigation for corruption.

In August last year, Morales announced that he would not be renewing the mandate of the anti-impunity body. The president also attempted to declare CICIG head Ivan Velasquez a "persona non-grata" and bar him from the country.

But the country's Constitutional Court in September ruled against the ban on Velasquez, ordering that he must be permitted to re-enter Guatemala. The goverment has remained steadfast in its position, sparking a deepening constitutional crisis.

Earlier on Monday, Stephane Dujarric, UN spokesperson, had urged Guatemala's government to allow the free movement of CICIG staff in the country, as in accordance with the 2006 agreement.

His call came two days after Guatemalan immigration officials denied Yilen Osorio, a Colombian CICIG investigator, entry into the country and detained him upon arrival.

The detention violated a December 21 court order issued by Guatemala's highest court which said the government must allow entry for 11 CICIG investigators whose visas were revoked earlier that month. The government argued that the investigators posed a threat to national security, giving them 72 hours to leave the country.

Osorio was finally permitted to enter the country after being held for some 24 hours following an order by the Constitutional Court.

Oswaldo Samayoa, a Guatemalan constitutional lawyer, said that among those whose visas were removed are the lead investigators of the cases against Morales, his brother and son.

"There is clearly a conflict of interests in the decisions of Morales," Samayoa told Al Jazeera. "It is a form of revenge disguised in the discourse of sovereignty."

Commenting on Guatemala's CICIG withdrawal, Samayoa said Monday's announcement was "disastrous for our country, for our democracy and our fragile institutions".

"All these actions are against the law and constitution," Samayoa added.

"The agreement with the United Nations that formed the CICIG says that only the UN can end the anti-corruption body," explained Samayoa, pointing to articles 11 and 14 of the agreement and citing article 149 of Guatemala's constitution, which upholds the country's commitment to human rights and international accords.

Iduvina Hernandez, director of human rights organisation Security in Democracy, alleged that Morales "is destroying the institutional order".

"These actions are a coup d'etat against the rule of law," Hernandez told Al Jazeera. "This is being carried out by those in government that wish to maintain their privileges."

The president's move was also condemned by Democrats in the United States, including Representative Norma Torres.

"Jimmy Morales' presidency has set the country back years, if not decades," Torres said in a statement.

"Morales had a historic opportunity to give Guatemalans the transparent and effective government that they deserve. Instead, when faced with the prospect of criminal investigation by CICIG and the public ministry, he chose to destroy the rule of law in order to protect himself," Torres wrote.

"He has engaged in a pattern of behaviour that has undermined Guatemala’s justice system and brought the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis." </s> Roxana Baldetti was found guilty of fraud for involvement in a bogus multimillion-dollar scheme to clean up a contaminated lake

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Guatemala’s former vice-president Roxana Baldetti has been jailed for more than 15 years on corruption charges linked to a multimillion-dollar fraud over a bogus scheme to clean up a contaminated lake, thanks to an investigation backed by the UN crime fighting force.

Public prosecutors backed by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) uncovered a criminal network run by Baldetti which conspired to award an $18m government contract to an Israeli company for a clean-up potion that turned out to be sea water.

Alarm as Guatemala bans head of UN anti-corruption body from country Read more

Tuesday’s verdict was hailed by anti-impunity campaigners battling to save the commission from expulsion by the current president who is fighting impeachment arising from multiple corruption allegations.

President Jimmy Morales argues that his decision to end the commission’s mandate next September was not personally motivated, and used a speech at the UN last month to claim Cicig was a threat to peace.

Morales, who was elected in 2015 on an anti-corruption platform, is facing charges of illegal campaign financing and fraud thanks to investigations backed by Cicig. His brother, son and political party also face corruption charges.

The standoff between the beleaguered president and popular anti-impunity commission has escalated in recent months. Morales has blocked the Cicig chief, Iván Velásquez, from re-entering Guatemala in defiance of court orders ruling the ban unconstitutional.

Velásquez welcomed Baldetti’s verdict on Twitter: “The fight against corruption and impunity IS possible!”

Baldetti, a former beauty queen, was forced to resign in 2015 after a separate Cicig-backed corruption investigation triggered a social uprising and brought down the government of President Otto Pérez Molina, who remains in Mariscal jail awaiting trial.

Cicig does not make arrests or directly prosecute cases – but its joint investigations with local prosecutors have helped uncover 60 criminal networks and bring charges against 680 people including four former presidents, military officers, judges, drug traffickers and entrepreneurs.

'Our Central American spring': protesters demand an end to decades of corruption Read more

Baldetti, 56, is the highest-ranking politician to be sentenced so far. She was sentenced to 15 years and six months by the high risk court in Guatemala City after the judge ruled that she was the “big chief” of the scam and found her guilty of fraud, illicit association and peddling influence.

Prosecutors said that she conspired to grant an $18m contract to the Israel-based company M Tarcic Engineering Ltd, which claimed it could clean up Lake Amatitlán, a popular weekend spot for wealthy Guatemalans which had been contaminated by huge quantities of sewage from the capital.

The company said it would clean the lake within months, but investigators found that the substance they used was merely saltwater and chlorine.

Nine others were jailed, including Baldetti’s brother Mario, who acted as the intermediary between the company and the government. The case had suffered repeated delays thanks to multiple injunctions and appeals filed by the defendants’ lawyers in a phenomenon condemned by international legal experts as “malicious litigation”.

Baldetti faces multiple corruption charges in three other major Cicig-backed cases, which suggest powerful networks involving political, economic, military and criminal elites had infiltrated institutions across the government for financial gain.

Baldetti also faces cocaine trafficking charges in the United States, but cannot be extradited until after serving her sentences at home.

Gabriel Wer, co-founder of the #JusticiaYa social and political movement which led the mass protests in 2015, said: “Ex-vice-president Baldetti has been sentenced for swindling millions from the state. This is a historic ruling, which would not have been possible without Cicig.” </s> A Guatemalan judge has issued an arrest order for former attorney general Thelma Aldana on charges including embezzlement, the police said on Tuesday, amid an escalating campaign against people and institutions involved in high-profile corruption and rights cases.

Aldana, who helped lead investigations into top politicians including the current president, is herself seeking the presidency in a June election, and she said on Twitter that electoral authorities registered her as a candidate on Tuesday.

The arrest warrant issued by Judge Victor Cruz cited charges of embezzlement, lying and tax fraud. Aldana has denied wrongdoing.

Aldana is currently traveling and is not in Guatemala, national police spokesman Jorge Aguilar said.

"There is a migratory alert out, because we know she is not in the country," he said.

President Jimmy Morales has fought back against a U.N.-backed anti-corruption body that along with Aldana sought to impeach him in a campaign financing investigation. In January, he expelled the head of the corruption body, known as CICIG, from the country and has declined to renew its mandate.

Aldana and CICIG's investigation of former President Otto Perez Molina led to his impeachment and cut short his presidency. He remains in custody on charges of involvement in a customs corruption ring.

Morales' party is seeking to pass a law that would free military officials convicted of human right's crimes committed during the Central American country's 36-year civil war. </s> GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — President Jimmy Morales on Friday shut down a crusading U.N.-sponsored anti-graft commission that has pressed a number of high-profile corruption probes in the country — including one pending against him over purported illicit campaign financing.

Speaking in front of civilian leaders as military vehicles surrounded the commission’s headquarters in the capital, Morales said he had informed the U.N. secretary-general of his decision to revoke the body’s mandate and “immediately” begin transferring its capacities to Guatemalan institutions.

The decision caps a long history of friction between the government and the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or Cicig for its initials in Spanish.

In August 2017, Morales announced that he was expelling the commission’s chief, Ivan Velasquez, but that was quickly blocked by Guatemala’s top court.

At the time Morales declared Velasquez a persona non grata and fired his foreign minister for refusing to carry out the order to expel him, before later backing off and saying he would obey the court’s decision.

Morales accused the commission Friday of “violating our laws, inducing people and institutions to participate in acts of corruption and impunity,” and “selective criminal prosecution with an ideological bias.”

“Selective justice has been used to intimidate and terrorize the citizenry,” he charged. “Judicial independence has been violated, with the intention of manipulating justice, actions that attack the presumption of innocence and due process.”

Morales is suspected of receiving at least $1 million in undeclared contributions during the 2015 campaign. He has denied wrongdoing.

Last week the Supreme Court allowed a request brought by Cicig and Guatemalan prosecutors to strip his immunity from prosecution to go to Congress for consideration. If 105 lawmakers vote in favor, it could open him up to investigation for possible illicit campaign financing.

Cicig spokesman Matias Ponce told The Associated Press that at least 12 military vehicles were outside the commission’s facility, a deployment that Guatemalan human rights prosecutor Jordan Rodas called an “oversize and intimidating presence.”

“It is an unnecessary military movement that reminds us of days past when there were coups, and now we are a democracy — nobody is above the law,” Rodas said, adding that he would work to guarantee the safety of the commissioner and his team.

“We sincerely regret the great mistake that the president made public in not renewing Cicig’s mandate,” he continued. “We are grateful for its valuable contribution in the country to the fight against corruption and impunity.”

The commission’s work with Guatemalan prosecutors has led to high-profile graft probes that ensnared dozens of politicians and businesspeople and even led to the downfall of former President Otto Perez Molina and his then-vice president.

The military deployment came the same day a U.N. human rights team was expelled from the Central American nation of Nicaragua after the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights published a critical report accusing President Daniel Ortega’s government of violent repression of opposition protests.

There was no immediate indication of a link between the two events. </s> GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - A Guatemalan judge has ordered the arrest of former attorney general and presidential candidate Thelma Aldana on charges including embezzlement, the police said on Tuesday, amid an escalating campaign on high-profile corruption and rights cases.

Aldana, who helped lead investigations into top politicians, including the current president, is seeking the presidency in a June election.

The warrant for her arrest, issued by Judge Victor Cruz, cited charges of embezzlement, lying and tax fraud. Aldana has denied wrongdoing.

Aldana, who was in El Salvador on Tuesday for a meeting, planned to return to Guatemala by Thursday, she said in an appearance on CNN.

She added that her presidential candidacy, approved by electoral authorities on Tuesday, had granted her immunity and that she would not take action against the arrest order.

“We’re not going to do anything... They know that I’m going to keep up the fight against corruption, and lots of people in Guatemala are trembling because of that,” she said.

President Jimmy Morales has fought back against a U.N.-backed anti-corruption body that, along with Aldana, sought to impeach him in a campaign financing investigation.

In January, he expelled the head of the corruption body, known as CICIG, from the country and has declined to renew its mandate.

Aldana and CICIG’s investigation of former President Otto Perez Molina led to his impeachment and cut short his presidency. He remains in custody on charges of involvement in a customs corruption ring.

Morales’ party is seeking to pass a law to free military officials convicted of human rights crimes during the Central American country’s 36-year civil war.

Lawmakers were set to review changes to the law on Wednesday, but dropped it from the agenda amid an onslaught of criticism from local and international rights groups, including the United Nations.

Instead, they have scheduled a discussion on modifying the criminal procedure code.

The proposed changes would limit jail time for accused people awaiting verdicts, which could allow the release of at least 100 people facing corruption charges, as well as others accused of war crimes. </s> Former Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom was arrested Tuesday in connection with the Transurbano corruption case, officials said.

Colom was expected to visit Honduras this week as a special OAS representative to direct discussions between its government, led by Juan Orlando Hernandez, and the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH).

The Attorney General's Office and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) on Tuesday carried out 14 raids to capture a number of individuals, including members of the former president's Cabinet.

Up to now, authorities have confirmed the arrest of former Ministers Juan Alberto Fuentes Knight (Finance), Salvador Gandara Gaitan (President's Office), Ana Francisca del Rosario Ordoñez (Education), Abraham Valenzuela (Defense), Edgar Alfredo Rodriguez (Labor), Oscar Velasquez (Economy), Celso David Cerezo Mulet (Health), Geronimo Lancerio Chingo (Culture) and Luis Alberto Ferrate (Environment).

The Transurbano is a public transport organization in Guatemala City run by the Guatemalan Integrated Bus System and promoted by the Guatemalan government during the 2008-2012 Colom administration, and by the Urban Bus Entrepreneurs Association. Travel is paid with a charge card.

The authorities have not yet provided further details about the case, nor the specific crimes those under arrest are accused of committing.

A typical case is Fuentes Knight, the president of Oxfam International, who is accused of taking part in the Transurbano corruption scheme when he was finance minister during the Alvaro Colom government. The Transurbano was a model of urban transport implemented during the administration of Colom's National Unity of Hope (UNE) party.

Upon arriving at court, Fuentes Knight said that when he left office he asked for an investigation into the supposed "anomalies" that began to appear, associated with the company operating the transport service.

"When I resigned, I asked for an investigation and that no further funds be forwarded to Transurbano. Naturally, the Comptroller's Office had no information on the matter," something Fuentes Knight said he didn't report because he himself didn't have sufficient information at the time. </s> GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales on Friday shut down a crusading U.N.-sponsored anti-graft commission that has pressed a number of high-profile corruption probes - including one pending against the president himself over purported illicit campaign financing.

Speaking in front of civilian and military leaders, Morales said he had informed the U.N. secretary-general of his decision to revoke the body’s mandate and “immediately” begin transferring its capacities to Guatemalan institutions.

Minutes before the surprise announcement, U.S.-donated army vehicles that Guatemala uses to fight drug and other smuggling were deployed to the commission’s headquarters in the capital in what critics called an attempt at intimidation.

The decision caps a long history of friction between the president and the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG for its initials in Spanish.

In August 2017, Morales announced that he was expelling the commission’s chief, Ivan Velasquez, but that move was quickly blocked by Guatemala’s top court.

At the time Morales declared Velasquez a persona non grata and fired his foreign minister for refusing to carry out the order to expel him, before later backing off and saying he would obey the court’s decision.

Morales accused the commission Friday of “violating our laws, inducing people and institutions to participate in acts of corruption and impunity,” and “selective criminal prosecution with an ideological bias.”

“Selective justice has been used to intimidate and terrorize the citizenry,” he charged. “Judicial independence has been violated, with the intention of manipulating justice, actions that attack the presumption of innocence and due process.”

The announcement was promptly met with criticism from human rights officials and advocates.

“We sincerely regret the great mistake that the president made public in not renewing CICIG’s mandate,” Guatemalan human rights prosecutor Jordan Rodas said. “We are grateful for its valuable contribution in the country to the fight against corruption and impunity.”

Morales is suspected of receiving at least $1 million in undeclared contributions during the 2015 campaign. He has denied wrongdoing.

Last week the Supreme Court allowed a request brought by CICIG and Guatemalan prosecutors to strip his immunity from prosecution to go to Congress for consideration. If 105 lawmakers vote in favor, it could open him up to investigation for possible illicit campaign financing.

“I think there’s a conflict of interest, and an attempt by President Morales to try to protect his own interests in light of the ongoing investigation and probe,” said Adriana Beltran, director for citizen security at the Washington Office on Latin America, which advocates for human rights in the region.

Beltran said CICIG and Velasquez have made remarkable progress in strengthening the rule of law in Guatemala “despite constant attacks and efforts to try to undermine (their) work,” and that “there’s still much more that needs to be done.”

The commission released security camera video showing perhaps a dozen military jeeps taking up position curbside outside the headquarters Friday, some with soldiers manning machine gun turrets. CICIG spokesman Matias Ponce said they were there for a few minutes, and later returned and drove by without stopping. Ponce also told The Associated Press that police and army vehicles intercepted a car carrying a team from the commission on a street in the capital.

Rodas called the deployment an “oversize and intimidating presence.”

“It is an unnecessary military movement that reminds us of days past when there were coups, and now we are a democracy - nobody is above the law,” he said, adding that he would work to guarantee the safety of the commissioner and his team.

Prosecutors’ spokeswoman Julia Barrera said an investigation was opened “to see if any crime was committed” by deploying the vehicles.

The commission’s work with Guatemalan prosecutors has led to high-profile graft probes that ensnared dozens of politicians and businesspeople and even led to the downfall of former President Otto Perez Molina and his then-vice president.

The military deployment came the same day a U.N. human rights team was expelled from the Central American nation of Nicaragua after the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights published a critical report accusing President Daniel Ortega’s government of violent repression of opposition protests.

There was no immediate indication of a link between the two events.
The Attorney General and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) present a new case of corruption involving the current Economy Minister Acisclo Valladares Urruela, the presidential candidate Estuardo Galdámez of the ruling party National Convergence Front and seven deputies. They also request the revocation of the immunity of these politicians to proceed with their arrest. Galdámez is the sixth presidential candidate who has a process for possible acts of corruption.