Guatemala arrests former UN anti-corruption representative

Guatemalan prosecutors on Monday arrested the former head of the UN-backed anti-corruption commission, who was deported years ago.

The arrest of Claudia González is the latest chapter in the government’s systematic pursuit of those who cooperated with the UN anti-corruption mission best known by the Spanish acronym “CICIG”.

Interviewed outside the courthouse after his arrest, González said the charges were bizarre. She was charged with abuse of power by a public official, she said, even though she was not actually a public official when she was a legal representative for CICIG.

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Mr. González has recently represented dozens of former corrupt prosecutors and officials facing lawsuits from the current administration.

The government of President Alejandro Giammattei has been accused by civil society groups and foreign governments of systematically pursuing those who cooperated with the UN mission.

About 30 judges, magistrates and prosecutors involved in the investigation and handling of these corruption cases were forced to flee the country following legal action.

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Perhaps CICIG’s greatest achievement was the investigation and prosecution of President Otto Perez Molina, who was forced to resign in 2015 along with his Cabinet.

For more than 12 years, CICIG has helped Guatemala’s Special Prosecutor’s Office for Impunity dismantle dozens of criminal networks while building capacity to handle complex corruption cases.

Then-President Jimmy Morales ended his CICIG mission in 2019 while under investigation.

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Last year, the U.S. government revoked the U.S. visa of current Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Poraz, who was pursuing former prosecutors who conducted a corruption investigation.