Why Guatemala is abandoning high-profile anti-corruption drive
A woman holding a Guatemalan flag protests at the Plaza de la Constituci贸n in Guatemala City Sept. 4. President Jimmy Morales recently announced he would not renew the mandate of a UN-backed commission probing corruption in Guatemala.
Santiago Billy/AP
Guatemala City, Guatemala and Mexico City, Mexico
Last Friday, hours after President Jimmy Morales announced he would shut down a United Nations-funded anti-corruption commission that put two of his predecessors behind bars, protesters gathered in Guatemala City鈥檚 main square.
鈥淭he people revoke your mandate. Resign now,鈥� read a hand-scribbled sign, a reference to President Morales and his move to halt the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The commission has been renewed repeatedly since launching in 2006, with its current authorization set to expire next year.
Corruption and impunity are deep-seated challenges in Latin America, where widespread protests to clean up government have swept nations from Honduras to Mexico to Brazil in recent years. Amid a听听perception that the public sector is corrupt, Guatemalans have听recently become known听for speaking out against fraud. In 2015, weekslong mass protests pressured then-President Otto P茅rez Molina and his Vice President Roxana Baldetti to step down. Their alleged involvement in an embezzlement scheme that skimmed听听was initially brought to light by CICIG.
Why We Wrote This
Guatemalans have been outspoken about battling fraud and corruption. But their voices have grown quieter, which may speak to an increasingly difficult political atmosphere in the country.
When Morales, a former comic who was elected president on promises of honesty and integrity, tried to cancel the commission鈥檚 mandate last year after CICIG began investigating his participation in illegal campaign funding, Guatemalan demonstrators once again flooded the streets, demanding that CICIG stay.
But this most recent move to halt the commission鈥檚 work听鈥撎齛nd to ban the lead investigator from reentering the country听鈥�听has drawn a decidedly different response. Demonstrations have been smaller and groups previously supportive of CICIG, like the business class, are largely silent after recent investigations targeted their community.
Observers say recent events 鈥� including the mobilization of military tanks surrounding CICIG offices and a tepid response from the United States 鈥� have created a chilling effect.听
I don鈥檛 want 鈥渢he fight against corruption to grind to a halt,鈥� says demonstrator Rodrigo de Le贸n, explaining his reason for joining the protest in Guatemala City鈥檚 main square last week. 鈥淚 want a better future for my children.鈥� But unlike the 2015 protests, he chose not to bring his wife and two young kids.
鈥淧eople are afraid and confused and many say the protests have been infiltrated by spies,鈥� Mr. de Le贸n says. 鈥淓veryone is fighting for their own causes. We need a common discourse to bring us together again.鈥�
Corruption Fatigue听
Since CICIG was created by treaty between Guatemalan lawmakers and the United Nations in December 2006, the commission has investigated high-level crimes ranging from drug trafficking to illegal adoptions to government kickback schemes.听
The commission, envied by anticorruption听protesters across the region, is one of the most trusted institutions in Guatemala, according to a 2017 survey by Vanderbilt University鈥檚 Latin American Public Opinion Project. Some 70 percent of听听said they have faith in CICIG.听
But support for the body has faltered in recent years, says Renzo Rosal, a political analyst in Guatemala City. 鈥淲hat we have today is a good level of backing for CICIG, but it鈥檚 dispersed,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ver the past two years there have been shifts in public opinion around CICIG due to impressions that there鈥檚 selective prosecution involved,鈥� he says, referring to cases targeting the business class or Morales鈥檚 extended family.
Critics say lead investigator Iv谩n Vel谩squez G贸mez has overstepped his authority by taking over public institutions. Supporters say the organization has the autonomy to confront the nation鈥檚 powerful elite who have long operated above the law, and to train local officials in investigation and prosecution.
Morales announced the expulsion of CICIG a week after the country鈥檚 highest court ruled that he should be stripped of his prosecutorial immunity and charged for his involvement in the illegal campaign funding scandal during the 2015 election.
鈥淚 see it as a coup,鈥� although not in the traditional sense, says Anita Isaacs, a Guatemala expert at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the military against the symbolic upholder of democracy in the country.鈥�
Many observers attribute the muted public response to military presence 鈥� the tanks circling CICIG offices 鈥� and what they symbolize. Guatemala endured a bloody 36-year civil war under a right wing, US-backed dictatorship. Few have been held accountable for the estimated 200,000 people killed during that time.听
As more cases of corruption are exposed, there鈥檚 also the very real possibility of听corruption fatigue.听
鈥淎fter the current president turned out to be just as bad as his predecessor, people ask themselves what鈥檚 the point in protesting,鈥� says Gabriel Wer, a member of #JusticiaYa (#JusticeNow), the main coordinator of the 2015 protests.
Empowering civil society听
The Constitutional Court could override Morales鈥檚 decision to block CICIG, as it did last year. But the lack of action so far, combined with a lukewarm response from both the Guatemalan people and from the US suggest it鈥檚 unlikely. 听
Over the past decade, CICIG has made an impact in Guatemala, says Dr. Isaacs. 鈥淚t has been a spectacular experiment in building capacity within local institutions,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 generated a belief that democracy is possible in Guatemala and [it] empowered civil society to actually understand what corruption means in everyday life and the importance of ending it.鈥�
But others say the advances haven鈥檛 gone far enough. 鈥淲hat I fear the most is that the progress Guatemala has made during CICIG鈥檚 time here 鈥� those advances are easy to turn back,鈥� says Mr. Rosal. 鈥淭he commission can鈥檛 be here another hundred years鈥�.But I think we need CICIG to be here for another four years, at least.鈥�
From protest to political action听
In the past, Guatemalans have protested attempts to block CICIG. This time, citizen organizers say they are responding with political action.
Indigenous and peasant groups have issued statements against Morales鈥檚 decision to expel CICIG but instead of calling for national strikes, as they did in 2015, they鈥檙e focusing on upcoming elections.听
Leiria Vay Garc铆a, a leader of CODECA, one of the country鈥檚 main human rights organizations for rural populations, says it is creating a political party that can compete in the 2019 elections. The goal is to overhaul the nation鈥檚 political system and rewrite the constitution, scrapping lawmakers鈥� rights to prosecutorial immunity, Ms. Garc铆a says.
鈥淧eople need to organize,鈥� she says. But, 鈥渢his doesn鈥檛 just mean taking to the streets.鈥澨�