Dark forces go after CICIG's international backers

President Jimmy Morales failed to have CICIG Commission Ivan Velasquez declared persona non grata and removed from the country. Morales and his political party have been investigated by CICIG for a variety of campaign finance violations. His son and brother are under investigation for corruption. CICIG was saved through the pressure of the Guatemalan people and international community, in addition to the actions of the Constitutional Court.

Morales and the forces of impunity did not give up. It's hard not to see their efforts to dismantle the anti-corruption commission behind Mary Anastasia O'Grady's recent attacks against the commission. Her friendship with former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, connections with the Francisco Marroquin University from which she has received an honorary degree, and column in the Wall Street Journal made her a perfect target.

Senator Marco Rubio has now gotten involved as well, coming to the defense of the Bitkov family. Three members of the Bitkov family are among dozens of people charged with lengthy prison sentences for their participation in the passport scandal. However, Rubio has been led to believe that their prosecution by Guatemalan attorneys and sentencing by Guatemalan courts was done at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. And it is all somehow CICIG's fault. Rubio is now holding up US assistance to the CICIG.

As if that were not enough, President Morales has now gone after one of the main European backers of CICIG, Sweden. Sweden was asked to remove its ambassador, Anders Kompass, ostensibly because of comments he made earlier this year.

In January, during a ceremony in which the government of Sweden donated funds to CICIG, Kompass made mention of "a corrupt society," but added that he did "not think it was correct" to say that all of the culture was bad. He also noted that CICIG represented "a strong medicine" for Guatemala.

CICIG has been indispensable in the fight against corruption. Unfortunately, its success has come in spite of those who have occupied the presidency in Guatemala. Two of the presidents in office during its mandate are in prison and a third is fending off accusations himself. After failing to directly succeed in their attacks against CICIG and its commissioner, they are now attempting to destabilize the body by going after its financial backers. The international community must realize that these are the efforts of a desperate president set on keeping himself and his family out of jail. They must double down on their support for CICIG and those in Guatemala who are looking to build a democratic rule of law.