Corrupt Guatemalan officials find help from an unlikely source: Marco Rubio
Corrupt Guatemalan officials find help from an unlikely source: Marco Rubio
The Florida senator has suspended US funding for a United Nations commission that has had dramatic success in tackling corruption in the Central American country
Nina Lakhani
Thu 17 May 2018 04.00 EDT Last modified on Thu 17 May 2018 13.18 EDT
It is a crime-fighting force which has toppled presidents accused of corruption, dismantled criminal networks commanded by former army officers, and detained security chiefs who operated death squads.
The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) has dented the immunity long enjoyed by the country’s criminal rich and powerful, using 21st-century law enforcement techniques such as witness protection, wiretapping and covert operations to expose criminal networks.
The UN-backed force is Latin America’s most successful and popular anti-corruption venture, and is reviled by corrupt officials and criminal networks in Guatemala. It is also currently leading corruption investigations against the country’s president, Jimmy Morales, and his family.
These opponents now have an unlikely ally in Washington DC: the Republican senator Marco Rubio, who last week suspended US aid to Cicig amid claims of Kremlin infiltration.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/17/guatemala-marco-rubio-corruption
LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142061820