Guatemala’s 36-year civil war that ended in 1996 – after killing over 200,000 people – sparked persistent, widespread crime and corruption. Many of those who fought in the war transitioned from soldiers and security officers to gang members and kingpins, engaging in everything from extortion to drug smuggling and trafficking to kidnapping. Some even weaseled their way into the political and judicial systems, and bribes and threats leveled at judges, attorneys and witnesses became status quo.

 

As the murder rate exploded, it was clear the world needed to step in and help Guatemalans find peace. At the request of the government, help came in the form of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which was supervised by the United Nations. The CICIG was created to fight corruption and dismantle drug cartels, money-laundering rings and death squads. 

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The CICIG conducted independent investigations, then handed the cases to local prosecutors, a partnership that successfully prosecuted hundreds of corrupt politicians and business executives as well as many drug traffickers and other bad guys.

From the beginning, the main cheerleader for the CICIG was the United States, who played a central role in supporting the effort – both diplomatically and financially – contributing around half of the CICIG’s budget.

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There were locals who believed the CICIG violated Guatemala’s sovereignty but, huge surprise, these naysayers were, or had been, in the crosshairs of the commission. At one point, 20 percent of Guatemala’s legislature was under investigation. Alfonso Portillo, Guatemala’s president from 2000 to 2004, was investigated and charged with money laundering, and Otto Pérez Molina, Guatemala’s president from 2012 to 2015, was investigated and charged – along with his vice-president Roxana Baldetti – for embezzlement. 

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Then there was Jimmy Morales, Guatemala’s president from 2016 to 2020, who was investigated for campaign-finance violations – as his son and brother were investigated for fraud. Before his presidency, Morales was a comedian who ran on the slogan “neither corrupt nor a thief,” but turned out to be both. In August 2018, Morales announced he would not renew the CICIG’s mandate which was set to expire in September 2019 (the mandate had to be renewed every two years or be dissolved). Then, for good measure, he tried to kick Iván Velásquez, the head of the CICIG, and Yilen Osorio, a CICIG investigator, out of Guatemala for good. Although he had already announced the end of the commission, investigation-riddled Morales decided for some crazy reason to terminate it nine months early, a move rejected by the United Nations and Guatemala’s highest court.

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Enter the first Trump administration, which President Morales knew exactly how to handle. For example, when the United States moved our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, so did Guatemala. To Donald Trump, that show of support ranked up there with a gigantic billboard with his face plastered on it, which is just one of the many things Saudi Arabia did the first time around. This loyalty to Donald Trump paid off, because Morales seemed to have free reign to do whatever the heck he wanted to do in his last months as president. He somehow convinced the Trump administration and other Republicans, led by Marco Rubio, that the CICIG was influenced by the Kremlin (which is just incredibly ironic), prompting the Republicans to suspend the CICIG’s funding.

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Another example of Morales’ free reign was the treatment of Thelma Aldana, who worked closely with the CICIG when she was the country’s attorney general from 2014 to 2018. In her role as AG, Ms. Aldana uncovered the massive scandal that led to the resignation of Otto Pérez Molina. During her tenure, she sent over 250 people to jail which, unsurprisingly, resulted in powerful enemies determined to get revenge. Revenge peaked when, in March 2019 – after Ms. Aldana announced she would be a candidate in the Guatemalan presidential race – a judge issued a warrant for her arrest on bogus embezzlement and tax fraud charges. Thankfully, Ms. Aldana has since been granted asylum in the United States.

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After Jimmy Morales, Alejandro Giammattei became president, and Guatemala was as corrupt and insecure as ever. But, in January 2024, Bernardo Arévalo was sworn in as president. Arévalo ran an optimistic, anti-corruption, campaign and promised that, under his presidency, the executive branch would cease to be the source of “fundamental lubricant of the corrupt system.” He is considered a political moderate with experience in conflict resolution and vowed in his campaign to reestablish important institutions. He has smart agendas on economic growth and good governance, and a solid national security approach. President Arévalo seems to prioritize human rights, democracy, and citizen security – a combination that Guatemalans desperately need.

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After Arévalo was sworn in – an act that the Attorney General’s Office tried to block – he said that “the political crisis from which we are emerging offers us a singular opportunity to build an institution, a democratic, realist and healthy democratic unity on the rubble of this wall of corruption that we are beginning to take down brick by brick.”

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One year into his presidency, Arévalo still faced a challenging uphill battle as his optimism collided with the realities of political opposition, institutional obstacles, a weak judiciary, and limited resources. One of his main problems is the Attorney General’s Office under Maria Conseulo Porras, which has nine open investigations against him. Consuelo Porras – who was appointed by President Giammettei – has been sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, and forty other countries for substantial corruption, plus undermining democracy and the rule of law. For instance, she promotes persecution against dissident voices (think journalists, human rights defenders, and independent justice officials) but refuses to prosecute organized crime and drug and human trafficking.

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Many Guatemalans were disappointed that President Arévalo didn’t simply remove Consuelo Porras after his election. However, we believe his decision – which was based on Ley Orgánica del Ministerio Público, a law that requires due process for the removal of the attorney general – respected the rule of law and democratic norms – and was very honorable.