Guatemalan court orders arrests of Colombian officials who led a UN anti-corruption mission

Independent

2 days ago

A Guatemalan court ordered Monday the arrests of Colombia's attorney general and a former Colombian defense minister who led a U.N. anti-corruption mission in Guatemala.
Guatemalan prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, who himself has been sanctioned by the United States and other countries for allegedly interfering in corruption investigations, had requested that an appeals court issue the arrest orders for Colombia's top prosecutor Luz Adriana Camargo Garzón, who was the chief of investigations of the Guatemala mission, and Iván Velásquez, who had led the mission and later was Colombia's defense minister.
Curruchiche said Camargo and Velásquez had committed illicit association during their investigation into bribes paid to Guatemalan officials by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
Along with former Guatemalan prosecutors working with the U.N. mission, Velásquez and Camargo were part of 'a criminal structure led by the former CICIG commissioner,' using the Spanish initials of the U.N. mission, Curruchiche alleged.
Curruchiche had long ago focused his investigation on an agreement the anti-corruption prosecutors had signed with Odebrecht that would offer reduced penalties in exchange for the company's cooperation in the investigation. His boss, Prosecutor General Consuelo Porras, has also been sanctioned by the U.S. and other governments for blocking corruption investigations. Last week, a U.N. expert warned her office was using criminal law to pursue enemies.
Velásquez responded via X after learning of the accusations.
'So now the corrupt Guatemalan attorney general and her prosecutor Curruchiche – designated as corrupt and sanctioned by the United States and the European Union – extend their persecution for Luz Adriana Camargo and me,' Velásquez wrote. 'My solidarity with the former officials and so many Guatemalan citizens who the Attorney General's Office has forced into exile.'
Camargo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Among those former Guatemalan prosecutors forced into exile was Juan Francisco Sandoval, who led the special prosecutor's office against impunity.
Sandoval, who led the Odebrecht investigation with support from the U.N. mission and has been living in exile in the United States, said last month in a statement that Curruchiche's investigation was 'a sham and a manipulation strategy.'
The U.N. mission operated in Guatemala from 2007 to 2019, when then-President Jimmy Morales decided to not renew its mandate, after it linked members of his family to a case.
It had worked with Guatemalan prosecutors to take down criminal structures in the country, sending judges, prosecutors, other public officials, including former presidents to trial for corruption.
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AP reporter Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia contributed to this report.