Header Ads

Guatemala: a new front in the war on corruption

11:15 , , , ,
I'm glad that I am not the only one confused by all these corruption scandals.
The corruption in the penitentiary system was the tip of the iceberg for the Pérez Molina administration. Beginning in April 2015, investigators from the Attorney General’s Office and its United Nations-appendage, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala - CICIG), began making public a series of corruption cases that have since landed Pérez Molina, his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, López Bonilla and many other officials and ex-officials in jail while they face trial.
The Attorney General’s Office and the CICIG have followed these up with cases against local and national politicians, international and Guatemalan companies, hotel and bank owners, among others. There are so many cases that most Guatemalans are having a hard time sorting through them, a danger in a country where disinformation and confusion are often used to overturn even the most noble causes.
The cases are part of a slow-moving revolution that is upending the status quo in a country where economic elites, military officials, politicians, judges and virtually anyone else with money and connections are assured that justice does not apply to them.
At some point, I thought that the CICIG and MP's office needed to stop arresting "new" people and just move ahead with some successful prosecutions. It's not as if they can't walk and chew gum at the same time. However, some key convictions would give greater momentum to the strengthening of Guatemala's weak institutions than a few more (really really significant) arrests. However, Byron Lima's murder appears ready to open a new front in the war on corruption.



Post a Comment

No comments

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )