US concerned about attempts to abolish anti-corruption infrastructure in Guatemala

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, June 4, expressed to his Guatemalan counterpart, Pedro Brolo, his “deep concern” about attempts to abolish anti-corruption entities in that country, following a legal action filed against the agreement that merged the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI) into the structure of the Public Ministry.

Blinken told the Guatemalan foreign minister that they are “closely following recent challenges to Guatemala’s anti-corruption efforts,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala -the highest court of that country- admitted to initiating the processing of an appeal of unconstitutionality filed by a lawyer against the agreement that allowed the creation of the FECI, headed by prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval, recently named “anti-corruption champion” by the State Department, as an organ of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The head of U.S. diplomacy pointed out that preserving the continuity of independent institutions that fight corruption is “fundamental to address the challenges to security, prosperity, and governance in Guatemala.”

He also indicated that the U.S. government continues to work “in close collaboration” with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the FECI to “support anti-corruption efforts in Guatemala”.

The conversation between the two officials occurred shortly before U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrives in Guatemala as part of a visit that will also take her to Mexico.

Harris was tasked by President Joe Biden to curb irregular immigration to the United States and to develop a strategy with the countries of Central America’s Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) to address the causes that force thousands of people to leave their places of origin.