GUATEMALA CITY: The firing of Guatemalas top anti-corruption prosecutor and new allegations that someone close to the attorney general was soliciting bribes for protection from investigations have increased concerns that what little capacity the country still had to battle corruption is being dismantled from within.
Juan Francisco Sandoval, head of the anti-impunity special prosecutors office, was dismissed Friday and fled the country that same night. Attorney General Consuelo Porras accused him of ideologically biased investigations. She had reassigned another prosecutor from his office a day earlier.
Then Sunday, lawyer Marco Aurelio Alveo Hernndez said he had told Sandovals office that one of his clients, a former Guatemalan central banker, had paid a bribe through Alveo to an adviser of Porras so his corruption case was moved from Sandovals office to another prosecutor.
Alveo fled the country Sunday with his family fearing potential retribution for his cooperation with Sandovals office.
The point of firing the prosecutor who led the investigations is to block what was being investigated, said Elvyn Daz, vice president of Guatemalas Institute for Comparative Studies in Criminal Science. He said the move also raises the possibility the justice system could be manipulated to punish Sandoval and the judges who ruled on the cases that he brought.
Sandoval had said as much about his firing. He accused Porras of blocking his offices investigations, including those touching President Alejandro Giammattei, who has spoken of his friendship with Porras. The administration denied any involvement, saying it respected the attorney generals autonomy.
U.S. officials condemned Sandovals firing.
We stand with the people of Guatemala and with Prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval, whom I recognized this year with an Anticorruption Champion Award. His dismissal undermines the rule of law and strengthens the forces of impunity. Guatemalans deserve better, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said via Twitter on Sunday.
Guatemalas government has been criticized over the past year for driving out judges known for taking a hard line on corruption. The moves are a continuation of the effort that ended the 12-year run of the United Nations anti-corruption mission in Guatemala in 2019 under then President Jimmy Morales. Porras was appointed attorney general by Morales and has continued in the position during the administration of Giammattei.
Ivn Velsquez, who led the U.N. mission and worked closely with Sandoval, said the anti-corruption fight is worsening.
It will only reverse if the international community suspends all aid to the Attorney Generals Office and isolates the attorney general, which is allied with all of the corrupt political power in the country, Velsquez said. It will depend on Guatemalans and their effort to defend democracy and find a way out.
On Monday, rural organizations blocked three highways to protest Sandovals firing. Other groups are considering ways to pressure the government. Some lawmakers have already filed formal complaints against Porras, accusing her of obstruction of justice among other things.
In June, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Guatemala and pledged support for anti-corruption efforts here. She has identified corruption as one of the factors pushing Guatemalans to migrate.
The firing confirms the fear from several months ago that despite having expressed an interest in collaborating on an anti-corruption agenda, ultimately, the Guatemalan government has a different agenda, said Tiziano Breda, Central America analyst for Crisis Group.
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