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

A Guatemalan tribunal has ordered the arrests of Colombia’s lawyer wide and a erstwhile Colombian defence curate who led a U.N. anti-corruption ngo successful Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY -- A Guatemalan tribunal ordered Monday the arrests of Colombia’s lawyer wide and a erstwhile Colombian defence curate who led a U.N. anti-corruption ngo successful Guatemala.

Guatemalan authoritative Rafael Curruchiche, who himself has been sanctioned by the United States and different countries for allegedly interfering successful corruption investigations, had requested that an appeals tribunal contented the apprehension orders for Colombia’s apical authoritative Luz Adriana Camargo Garzón, who was the main of investigations of the Guatemala mission, and Iván Velásquez, who had led the ngo and aboriginal was Colombia’s defence minister.

Curruchiche said Camargo and Velásquez had committed illicit relation during their probe into bribes paid to Guatemalan officials by Brazilian operation elephantine Odebrecht.

Along with erstwhile Guatemalan prosecutors moving with the U.N. mission, Velásquez and Camargo were portion of “a transgression operation led by the erstwhile CICIG commissioner,” utilizing the Spanish initials of the U.N. mission, Curruchiche alleged.

Curruchiche had agelong agone focused his probe on an statement the anti-corruption prosecutors had signed with Odebrecht that would connection reduced penalties successful speech for the company’s practice successful the investigation. His boss, Prosecutor General Consuelo Porras, has besides been sanctioned by the U.S. and different governments for blocking corruption investigations. Last week, a U.N. adept warned her bureau was utilizing transgression instrumentality to prosecute enemies.

Velásquez responded via X aft learning of the accusations.

“So present the corrupt Guatemalan lawyer wide and her authoritative Curruchiche – designated arsenic corrupt and sanctioned by the United States and the European Union – widen their persecution for Luz Adriana Camargo and me,” Velásquez wrote. “My solidarity with the erstwhile officials and truthful galore Guatemalan citizens who the Attorney General’s Office has forced into exile.”

Camargo did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Among those erstwhile Guatemalan prosecutors forced into exile was Juan Francisco Sandoval, who led the peculiar prosecutor’s bureau against impunity.

Sandoval, who led the Odebrecht probe with enactment from the U.N. ngo and has been living successful exile successful the United States, said past period successful a connection that Curruchiche’s probe was “a sham and a manipulation strategy.”

The U.N. ngo operated successful Guatemala from 2007 to 2019, erstwhile then-President Jimmy Morales decided to not renew its mandate, aft it linked members of his household to a case.

It had worked with Guatemalan prosecutors to instrumentality down transgression structures successful the country, sending judges, prosecutors, different nationalist officials, including erstwhile presidents to proceedings for corruption.

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AP newsman Astrid Suarez successful Bogota, Colombia contributed to this report.

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