Patriotic Party: a criminal gang whose objective was to take power to rob the state

In November 2011, I had no idea of what a CICIG-Perez Molina partnership would look like.

Perez, like some other Guatemalans, have been critical of CICIG and might want it to leave when its terms ends in 2013 or perhaps just have its mandate more focused. Either change probably would not help the people of Guatemala. I still don't know what to expect from a CICIG-Perez partnership. Wasn't CICIG sent to Guatemala to investigate someone like Perez? And Baldizon who is trying to position himself as the 2015 favorite? Would it help if CICIG came out and said that we have looked into allegations of serious wrongdoing by the President-elect and have found no evidence to substantiate the bringing of any charges against him? Then they could move on in peace.

Our knowledge about Perez Molina was right from the start. He was involved in the country's brutal counterinsurgency and using his positions as a military man and a congressman to enrich himself during and after the war. At what point did CICIG come to this conclusion? How do you work alongside the person you are investigating for nearly four years?

Here's the Economist on recent events in Guatemala, including a new corruption case involving the former president.

After Mr Pérez won the presidential election of 2011, the commission charges, he delivered on his promises. His government signed at least 450 contracts from which officials skimmed off more than $65m as part of the scheme, while Mr Pérez and his vice-president, Roxana Baldetti, enjoyed vacation homes, yachts, helicopters and designer clothing. The 58 named conspirators (counting those already in jail) come from virtually every part of the Guatemalan elite, including the former bosses of two large banks and the wife of a media magnate. An ex-football star who served as Mr Pérez’s culture minister was also detained. In the words of Plaza Pública, a local news website: “The Patriotic Party wasn’t a political party. In reality, it was a criminal gang whose objective was to take power to rob the state.”

I'm hoping that MACCIH and the new Salvadoran AG make progress against corruption in Honduras and El Salvador. However, both countries would have really been helped by the adoption of a CICIG model for their countries. The training, technology, and international support are really incomparable.