Title: Guatemala Rule of Law Accountability Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Guatemala Rule of Law Accountability Act
This bill directs the President to impose sanctions on foreign persons that are responsible for, or have facilitated, corruption or narcotics trafficking relating to the government of Guatemala. It also directs the Department of State to issue regulations establishing that certain aid provided to the government of Guatemala may be recovered if used for purposes other than those for which it was provided.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7314 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7314

        To combat corruption and money laundering in Guatemala.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 13, 2018

 Mrs. Torres introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To combat corruption and money laundering in Guatemala.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Guatemala Rule of Law Accountability 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
            (2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a 
        person that is not a United States person.
            (3) Grand corruption.--The term ``grand corruption'' means 
        public corruption committed at a high level of government 
        that--
                    (A) distorts policies or the central functioning of 
                the country; and
                    (B) enables leaders to benefit at the expense of 
                the public good.
            (4) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a natural person who is a citizen or resident 
                of the United States or a national of the United States 
                (as defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)); and
                    (B) an entity that is organized under the laws of 
                the United States or any State.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Department of State's 2018 International Narcotics 
        Control Strategy Report stated that, in Guatemala, ``widespread 
        corruption permeates public and private institutions and 
        exacerbates the country's security, governmental, and economic 
        challenges''.
            (2) The same report, discussing money laundering in 
        Guatemala, noted that ``[d]rug trafficking is a major source of 
        illicit funds. Other sources include corruption, extortion, 
        human trafficking, commerce of other illicit goods, and tax 
        evasion. Money is laundered primarily through real estate, 
        ranching, and the gaming industry. It is also laundered through 
        a series of small transactions below the U.S. $10,000 reporting 
        requirement, either in small banks along the Guatemala-Mexico 
        border, or by travelers carrying cash to other countries''.
            (3) On August 10, 2018, Guatemala's Attorney General filed 
        a request before the Supreme Court of Guatemala to remove the 
        immunity of Guatemala's President, Jimmy Morales, so that he 
        could be charged for the crime of illicit financing, based on 
        investigations carried out jointly by the Office of the 
        Attorney General and the International Commission against 
        Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
            (4) On August 31, 2018, the United States Embassy in 
        Guatemala issued a press release stating that ``Since 2013 the 
        United States Government has donated 148 Jeep J8 vehicles to 
        the Government of Guatemala. These vehicles were donated for 
        law enforcement use by the Interagency Task Forces Tecun Uman, 
        Chorti, and Xinca for the purpose of combatting criminal 
        activity and narcotics trafficking, with a focus on Guatemala's 
        borders. Several of these vehicles were recently observed in 
        Guatemala City, including in close proximity to CICIG's 
        headquarters and the United States Embassy. The United States 
        is monitoring closely that all equipment donated for law 
        enforcement activity in Guatemala is used appropriately and in 
        accordance with existing agreements.''.
            (5) On the same date, Guatemala's President, Jimmy Morales, 
        appeared at a press conference to announce that he would not 
        renew the mandate of CICIG, which expires in 2019, or the visa 
        of its commissioner, Ivan Velasquez, which was set to expire on 
        September 18, 2018.
            (6) On September 4, 2018, the Government of Guatemala 
        issued a statement to the effect that Ivan Velasquez, who was 
        on travel at the time, was not permitted to reenter the 
        country.
            (7) On September 17, 2018, Guatemala's Foreign Minister, 
        Sandra Jovel, and Minister of the Interior, Enrique Degenhart, 
        made public statements indicating that the Government of 
        Guatemala intended to ignore an order from the Guatemalan 
        Constitutional Court, that the government must allow the CICIG 
        commissioner to enter the country.

SEC. 4. SANCTIONS AGAINST FOREIGN PERSONS THAT ENGAGE IN CORRUPTION AND 
              OTHER ACTIVITIES IN GUATEMALA.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall impose the sanctions 
described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person who is a 
current or former official of the Government of Guatemala, or any 
foreign person acting on behalf of or in cooperation with an official 
of that government, that has knowingly--
            (1) committed or facilitated acts of grand corruption, 
        money laundering, narcotics trafficking, or financing political 
        campaigns with the proceeds of narcotics trafficking;
            (2) obstructed investigations or prosecutions of grand 
        corruption carried out by Guatemalan public prosecutors;
            (3) misused equipment provided by the Secretary of State or 
        the Secretary of Defense to the Guatemalan military or national 
        civilian police for the purpose of combating drug trafficking 
        or securing Guatemala's border;
            (4) disobeyed rulings of the Guatemalan Constitutional 
        Court; or
            (5) impeded or interfered with the work of any United 
        States Government agency or any institution receiving 
        contributions from the United States Government, including the 
        International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
    (b) Sanctions Described.--
            (1) In general.--The sanctions described in this subsection 
        are the following:
                    (A) Asset blocking.--The exercise of all powers 
                granted to the President by the International Emergency 
                Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the 
                extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions 
                in all property and interests in property of a person 
                determined by the President to be subject to subsection 
                (a) if such property and interests in property are in 
                the United States, come within the United States, or 
                are or come within the possession or control of a 
                United States person.
                    (B) Exclusion from the united states and revocation 
                of visa or other documentation.--In the case of an 
                alien determined by the President to be subject to 
                subsection (a), denial of a visa to, and exclusion from 
                the United States of, the alien, and revocation in 
                accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of any visa or 
                other documentation of the alien.
            (2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of 
        paragraph (1)(A) or any regulation, license, or order issued to 
        carry out paragraph (1)(A) shall be subject to the penalties 
        set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to 
        the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act 
        described in subsection (a) of that section.
            (3) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
                    (A) In general.--The requirement to block and 
                prohibit all transactions in all property and interests 
                in property under paragraph (1)(A) shall not include 
                the authority to impose sanctions on the importation of 
                goods.
                    (B) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term 
                ``good'' means any article, natural or man-made 
                substance, material, supply or manufactured product, 
                including inspection and test equipment, and excluding 
                technical data.
            (4) Exception to comply with united nations headquarters 
        agreement.--Sanctions under paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply to 
        an alien if admitting the alien into the United States is 
        necessary to permit the United States to comply with the 
        Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, 
        signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 
        November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United 
        States, or other applicable international obligations.
    (c) Regulatory Authority.--The President shall issue such 
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this 
section.
    (d) Termination.--This section shall terminate on the date that is 
2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON TRANSFER OF EQUIPMENT TRANSFER TO SECURITY 
              FORCES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development 
and the Secretary of Defense, as appropriate, shall issue regulations 
requiring the inclusion of appropriate clauses for any new foreign 
assistance contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements covering the 
transfer of equipment to the Guatemalan military or national civilian 
police, to ensure that any United States equipment that is provided to 
the Government of Guatemala may be recovered if such equipment is used 
for purposes other than those for which it was provided.
    (b) Exceptions and Waiver.--
            (1) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to 
        humanitarian assistance, disaster assistance, or assistance to 
        combat corruption.
            (2) Waiver.--The Secretary of State or the Secretary of 
        Defense, on a case by case basis, may waive the requirement 
        under subsection (a) if the Secretary of State or the Secretary 
        of Defense certifies to the appropriate congressional 
        committees that such waiver is important to the national 
        security interests of the United States.
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