CICIG adds fuel to the fire in Guatemala

Insight Crime´s Aaron Dougherty has a good rundown on yesterday´s report from CICIG on political parties and corruption in Guatemala.

Guatemala's political parties derived around half of their financing through corruption, including 25 percent from wealthy elites and businesses and 25 percent from criminal organizations,Guatemala's UN-backed anti-impunity body CICIG said in its latest report (pdf).

The situation is fostered by Guatemala's costly election campaigns, weak campaign finance regulation, lack of independent media, and nearly complete impunity regarding political corruption, the CICIG said.

"Guatemala is the perfect country to commit electoral crimes without consequences," CICIG head Ivan Velasquez Gomez said while presenting the report in a press conference.

Campaign finance is always going to be tricky. Look how complicated it is in the United States. That does not mean, however, that Guatemala needs to maintain its current system. CICIG proposes a number of reforms to reduce corruption in Guatemala that you can read at the bottom of Aaron´s article. The Guatemalan State will need to be strengthened in order for any of the recommendations to be effective.

I hope Guatemala embraces these reforms and that neighboring El Salvador and Honduras take note of how valuable an international commission can be to strengthening the rule of law. CICIG has worked with local partners dedicated to rooting out corruption. For the most part, the only people they are imposing upon are those who benefit from the existing system and do not want reforms that would threaten their privileged place in the Northern Triangle.