Latest news with #CICIG
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Colombia rejects Guatemalan court's arrest warrants for top officials
Bogota, Colombia – Colombian President Gustavo Petro has criticised a Guatemalan court order for the arrests of two senior Colombian officials, accusing the prosecutor's office of being corrupt. Guatemalan Public Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche on Monday accused Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and former Colombian Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez of corruption, influence peddling, obstruction of justice, and collusion during a United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) investigation into bribes paid to Guatemalan officials by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Petro said on Tuesday that the targeting of Camargo and Velasquez was politically motivated and shows that the attorney general's office is 'subordinate to the mafia'. 'Narcotrafficking multinationals are trying to take over legal authorities and governments to carry out and whitewash their illicit business,' wrote Petro in a post on X. In a statement released on Monday, Guatemala's government also said it 'emphatically rejects the arrest warrants'. 'These actions are carried out with a clear political objective, without grounding in the national and international legal system,' it announcing the warrants on Monday, Curruchiche alleged without providing evidence that Camargo and Velasquez abused their power while working at the CICIG on the Odebrecht case, a vast corruption scandal in which the construction firm admitted to bribing officials for public contracts in 10 Latin American countries. On Tuesday, Curruchiche presented emails, purportedly between Odebrecht employees and Camargo, to reporters that he said prove Camargo and Velasquez are guilty, though Al Jazeera could not independently verify the validity of the emails. Curruchiche's office first announced it was investigating Velasquez, who is currently Colombia's ambassador to the Holy See, in January 2023 when he was still minister of defence. From 2013 to 2019, Velasquez oversaw the CICIG, which uncovered several corruption networks in Guatemala. Guatemala's prosecutor's office did not respond to a request for comment. Both Camargo and Velasquez have denied the accusations. 'The corrupt Guatemalan Attorney General and her prosecutor Curruchiche – designated as corrupt and sanctioned by the US and the European Union – extend their persecution to me and Luz Adriana Camargo,' wrote Velasquez in an X post on Tuesday. Colombia's attorney general also rejected the charges in a press conference in Bogota on Wednesday. 'I am comforted by the tranquility of my innocence in the crimes that have been attributed to me by political bias,' said Camargo. Juanita Goebertus Estrada, director of the Americas Division at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera that the accusations against the Colombian officials were unfounded. 'There is no evidence against Velasquez or Camargo of any credible participation in criminal activity,' she said, adding that the warrants were just the latest in a series of controversial moves by the office of Guatemala's Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras, who has faced international criticism for resisting anti-corruption efforts. 'Consuelo Porras has a terrible record in human rights and democracy. She has constantly used criminal action as a weapon against those who have tried to fight against corruption in the country,' said Goebertus. Curruchiche was criticised for interfering with elections after his office suspended then-candidate Bernardo Arevalo's party ahead of the presidential run-off in 2023. Arevalo went on to win the elections, assuming office in January 2024 Guatemala's government said the arrest warrants are part of a wider pattern of judicial overreach. 'These are part of a series of actions by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Attorney General of the Republic and judges associated with corruption that have distorted the meaning of justice in Guatemala,' said the Guatemalan government in its statement on Monday. Despite the arrest orders, it appears unlikely that actions against the two officials will be taken outside of Guatemala. 'Petro won't comply with the arrest warrants … and it is very likely that he will seek an injunction to any international notice by Interpol that seeks to do the same,' Sergio Guzman, director at Colombia Risk Analysis, a security think tank, told Al Jazeera. However, Colombian opposition figures have embraced the arrest warrants as evidence of corruption in the Petro administration. Vicky Davila, the conservative frontrunner in next year's presidential elections, promised to comply with the order. 'On August 7 of next year, we will send them to Guatemala on a commercial flight, handcuffed, as befits extradited persons, to answer to the justice of that country for their alleged crimes,' wrote Davila in a post on X on Monday.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Colombia rejects Guatemalan court's arrest warrants for top officials
Bogota, Colombia – Colombian President Gustavo Petro has criticised a Guatemalan court order for the arrests of two senior Colombian officials, accusing the prosecutor's office of being corrupt. Guatemalan Public Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche on Monday accused Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and former Colombian Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez of corruption, influence peddling, obstruction of justice, and collusion during a United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) investigation into bribes paid to Guatemalan officials by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Petro said on Tuesday that the targeting of Camargo and Velasquez was politically motivated and shows that the attorney general's office is 'subordinate to the mafia'. 'Narcotrafficking multinationals are trying to take over legal authorities and governments to carry out and whitewash their illicit business,' wrote Petro in a post on X. In a statement released on Monday, Guatemala's government also said it 'emphatically rejects the arrest warrants'. 'These actions are carried out with a clear political objective, without grounding in the national and international legal system,' it said. While announcing the warrants on Monday, Curruchiche alleged without providing evidence that Camargo and Velasquez abused their power while working at the CICIG on the Odebrecht case, a vast corruption scandal in which the construction firm admitted to bribing officials for public contracts in 10 Latin American countries. On Tuesday, Curruchiche presented emails, purportedly between Odebrecht employees and Camargo, to reporters that he said prove Camargo and Velasquez are guilty, though Al Jazeera could not independently verify the validity of the emails. Curruchiche's office first announced it was investigating Velasquez, who is currently Colombia's ambassador to the Holy See, in January 2023 when he was still minister of defence. From 2013 to 2019, Velasquez oversaw the CICIG, which uncovered several corruption networks in Guatemala. Guatemala's prosecutor's office did not respond to a request for comment. Both Camargo and Velasquez have denied the accusations. 'The corrupt Guatemalan Attorney General and her prosecutor Curruchiche – designated as corrupt and sanctioned by the US and the European Union – extend their persecution to me and Luz Adriana Camargo,' wrote Velasquez in an X post on Tuesday. Colombia's attorney general also rejected the charges in a press conference in Bogota on Wednesday. 'I am comforted by the tranquility of my innocence in the crimes that have been attributed to me by political bias,' said Camargo. Juanita Goebertus Estrada, director of the Americas Division at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera that the accusations against the Colombian officials were unfounded. 'There is no evidence against Velasquez or Camargo of any credible participation in criminal activity,' she said, adding that the warrants were just the latest in a series of controversial moves by the office of Guatemala's Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras, who has faced international criticism for resisting anti-corruption efforts. 'Consuelo Porras has a terrible record in human rights and democracy. She has constantly used criminal action as a weapon against those who have tried to fight against corruption in the country,' said Goebertus. Curruchiche was criticised for interfering with elections after his office suspended then-candidate Bernardo Arevalo's party ahead of the presidential run-off in 2023. Arevalo went on to win the elections, assuming office in January 2024 Guatemala's government said the arrest warrants are part of a wider pattern of judicial overreach. 'These are part of a series of actions by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Attorney General of the Republic and judges associated with corruption that have distorted the meaning of justice in Guatemala,' said the Guatemalan government in its statement on Monday. Despite the arrest orders, it appears unlikely that actions against the two officials will be taken outside of Guatemala. 'Petro won't comply with the arrest warrants … and it is very likely that he will seek an injunction to any international notice by Interpol that seeks to do the same,' Sergio Guzman, director at Colombia Risk Analysis, a security think tank, told Al Jazeera. However, Colombian opposition figures have embraced the arrest warrants as evidence of corruption in the Petro administration. Vicky Davila, the conservative frontrunner in next year's presidential elections, promised to comply with the order. 'On August 7 of next year, we will send them to Guatemala on a commercial flight, handcuffed, as befits extradited persons, to answer to the justice of that country for their alleged crimes,' wrote Davila in a post on X on Monday.
4 days ago
- Politics
Guatemalan court orders arrests of officials who led a UN anti-corruption mission
GUATEMALA CITY -- 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. ___
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Guatemala issues arrest warrants for Colombia AG, former UN corruption investigator
BOGOTA/MEXICO CITY - Guatemala's attorney general's office announced arrest warrants on Monday for a group of people including Colombia's attorney general and a former UN anti-corruption prosecutor, drawing condemnation from the foreign ministry in Bogota. In a video on social media, the head of Guatemala's Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity Rafael Curruchiche said a Guatemalan court had issued arrest warrants for Colombia's Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and Ivan Velasquez, a veteran Colombian prosecutor, on corruption charges. Curruchiche alleged in the video that Velasquez led a "criminal structure" that benefited businessmen from the Brazilian construction company formerly known as Odebrecht. Camargo and Velasquez were charged with criminal association, obstruction of justice, influence peddling and collusion, the video said. In a post on social media on Monday, Velasquez said the arrest warrants amounted to persecution by corrupt officials. An official at the Colombia Attorney General's office declined to comment. Velasquez won international praise for his work last decade as head of the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which in 2015 exposed a multi-million dollar graft case that led to the resignation and arrest of former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina. The CICIG later investigated Perez Molina's successor, President Jimmy Morales, who ultimately shut down the commission in the country. Curruchiche said Guatemala had requested Interpol issue an alert for the arrests of Camargo and Velasquez, as well as for several notable former Guatemalan prosecutors. Colombia's foreign ministry on Monday condemned the arrest warrants for Camargo and Velasquez, saying Guatemala's calls for the arrest by Interpol were without legal basis and constituted an "attack on the fundamental principles of international justice." Velasquez was Colombia's defense minister until earlier this year, and was named recently as the country's ambassador to the Vatican. Odebrecht has rebranded after pleading guilty to bribery in the United States in 2016 and admitting to bribing officials throughout Latin America for years. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Guatemala issues arrest warrants for Colombia AG, former UN corruption investigator
BOGOTA/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala's attorney general's office announced arrest warrants on Monday for a group of people including Colombia's attorney general and a former UN anti-corruption prosecutor, drawing condemnation from the foreign ministry in Bogota. In a video on social media, the head of Guatemala's Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity Rafael Curruchiche said a Guatemalan court had issued arrest warrants for Colombia's Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and Ivan Velasquez, a veteran Colombian prosecutor, on corruption charges. Curruchiche alleged in the video that Velasquez led a "criminal structure" that benefited businessmen from the Brazilian construction company formerly known as Odebrecht. Camargo and Velasquez were charged with criminal association, obstruction of justice, influence peddling and collusion, the video said. In a post on social media on Monday, Velasquez said the arrest warrants amounted to persecution by corrupt officials. An official at the Colombia Attorney General's office declined to comment. Velasquez won international praise for his work last decade as head of the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which in 2015 exposed a multi-million dollar graft case that led to the resignation and arrest of former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina. The CICIG later investigated Perez Molina's successor, President Jimmy Morales, who ultimately shut down the commission in the country. Curruchiche said Guatemala had requested Interpol issue an alert for the arrests of Camargo and Velasquez, as well as for several notable former Guatemalan prosecutors. Colombia's foreign ministry on Monday condemned the arrest warrants for Camargo and Velasquez, saying Guatemala's calls for the arrest by Interpol were without legal basis and constituted an "attack on the fundamental principles of international justice." Velasquez was Colombia's defense minister until earlier this year, and was named recently as the country's ambassador to the Vatican. Odebrecht has rebranded after pleading guilty to bribery in the United States in 2016 and admitting to bribing officials throughout Latin America for years. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in Bogota and Brendan O'Boyle in Mexico City; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Tom Hogue and Kate Mayberry)
