Ambassador Robinson: There are four idiots in congress.

Some links from Guatemala. Matthew Taylor looks at the strengths and weaknesses of CICIG for the Council on Foreign Relations. Here are his three recommendations.

• Ensure a long mandate and long-term funding. (I'd rather see is cross presidential administrations but I do like longer mandates. Longer mandates, however, would also make it less likely that elites will accept such an institution.)
• Prioritize rule of law efforts in foreign policy–making. (I'm pretty sure strengthening the rule of law has been a priority for the US and the international community in Guatemala. At least they've complained about its failures for its absence for the last two decades. However, there needs to be a strategy for how to work with corrupt high-level government functionaries while you investigate others for corruption.) 
• Strategically coordinate independent commissions with other aid efforts. (There are a ton of other projects going on in Guatemala but I'm not sure how much coordination there is across donor agencies.)

I'd just add that while CICIG is a very important and relatively cheap institution, it's not clear that building the rule of law and attacking corruption can be done on the cheap ($15 million per year.)

U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Todd Robinson has been under scrutiny for quite sometime because of his deep involvement in the country's national politics. The pressure has mostly come from the right, although the left has shared their sense of frustration. Pressure has increased in recent days after Ambassador Robinson called four members of Congress "idiots" during a conversation with the media.

There are four idiots in congress. I have worked closely with many of the lawmakers, but there are some for whom I have no respect neither as lawmakers nor as authorities," Robinson said, according to the audio published online by Prensa Libre.

In a radio interview hours later, Robinson explained that he considered the hiring of the firm - reportedly for 7.2 million quetzales, or nearly $1 million - an unnecessary expense.

"If there are problems with relations between the two countries, there are two embassies to address them," he said.

An ambassador probably shouldn't go around calling members of Congress in the country to which he is posted "idiots." To be fair to Robinson, however, a number of current members of Congress are under investigation and there are probably more than four of them that fit this description. We have fewer members of Congress and we probably have a lot more than four as well.

Earthquakes and landslides have killed one dozen Guatemalans and damaged historical sites in recent days.

Finally, Guatemala's Supreme Court rejected a request by two members of Congress to have President Jimmy Morales' immunity lifted. They wanted him investigated for four crimes (abuse of authority, torture, non-compliance of duty and murder) in connection with the March fire that killed 41 girls.