[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 202 (Friday, December 21, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8011-S8012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               GUATEMALA

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, like many Members of Congress who have 
long supported efforts to help build an independent judiciary and 
reduce public corruption and impunity in Guatemala, I have observed a 
pattern of alarming actions by President Morales's administration and 
his allies in Guatemala's Congress to thwart these efforts.
  In the latest development, earlier this week, the Guatemalan Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs withdrew the diplomatic immunity of 11 investigators 
and other personnel of the International Commission against Impunity in 
Guatemala, CICIG, and ordered them to leave the country. This followed 
an announcement by the Minister of Interior of the removal of another 
15 high-ranking police officials from their posts.
  Over the years, the United States has invested many tens of millions 
of dollars to support the national police, the attorney general's 
office, and CICIG. These actions by the Morales's administration 
directly undermine those investments and indicate that it cannot be 
trusted to keep its word and is not serious about upholding the rule of 
law.
  Working jointly with the Attorney General's Office, CICIG has 
investigated cases of public corruption and other serious crimes. It 
has helped to strengthen the investigative capabilities of the attorney 
general's office and the police and promoted key criminal justice 
reforms. For this reason, CICIG, its commissioner, and the former 
attorney general have been the target of acts of intimidation and a 
smear campaign orchestrated by the Morales's administration and its 
allies in the military and the media. These actions by the government 
threaten CICIG' s independence and its ability to function effectively. 
According to information I have received, the professionals whose 
diplomatic immunity and visas were revoked include investigators and 
lawyers involved in some of the most sensitive cases related to alleged 
corruption and illicit campaign financing by top government officials.
  Other actions by Guatemalan authorities are equally disturbing. Since 
assuming office in January 2018, Minister of Interior Enrique Degenhart 
has, on multiple occasions, removed or relocated senior national police 
officers and detectives. Most of these officers had many years of 
experience in criminal investigations, counternarcotics, and other 
specialized areas. Most were trained by the United States. Even worse, 
the Minister has reportedly appointed police officials with alleged 
links to the military and promoted officers without transparent, merit-
based processes, undermining efforts to build a professional, 
transparent, and accountable police force. This threatens our ability 
to continue working with the police, which has in the past been 
infiltrated by organized crime, to combat narcotics trafficking, money 
laundering, and other transnational criminal activity.
  In 2009, working with key Guatemalan law enforcement agencies,

[[Page S8012]]

CICIG helped establish a wiretapping unit within the Attorney General's 
Office. Prior to that, wiretaps were illegal. The unit, which has been 
supported by the United States, has been instrumental in helping the 
Attorney General investigate and dismantle complex criminal networks. 
Reportedly, among the officers recently removed by Minister Degenhart 
was the director of the wiretapping unit.
  If we have learned anything over many years of trying to assist the 
countries of Central America build the institutions of government 
necessary to effectively combat corruption and impunity, it is that 
without partners who care at least as much about these issues as we do 
it is a fruitless exercise and a waste of U.S. taxpayers' money.
  What is happening today in Guatemala is a repeat of what we have 
observed many times before. New government officials take office, they 
profess their commitment to democratic ideals, the rule of law, and 
judicial independence, and then, when their own misdeeds become the 
focus of criminal investigations, they show their true colors.
  They ignore rulings by the country's highest courts. They seek to 
replace magistrates who cannot be intimidated, with cronies who will 
shield them from the law. They expel international prosecutors on 
grounds of ``sovereignty.'' They threaten those whose job it is to 
apply the law. They try to intimidate their political opponents. It is 
the same sad story.
  I recently met Constitutional Court Magistrate Gloria Patria Porras 
Escobar, an experienced and internationally respected jurist and former 
prosecutor known for her independence and courage. She, like others who 
have honored their professions, is an example of what Guatemala needs; 
yet she is being vilified by those who seek to subvert the institutions 
of justice.
  The people of Guatemala deserve better. They have demanded an end to 
corruption, an end to impunity, and an end to public officials who care 
more about enriching and protecting themselves than they do about 
addressing the needs of their people. The Guatemalan people 
overwhelming support the attorney general's office and CICIG, which 
have, for the first time in the country's history, shown that public 
officials who abuse their authority are not above the law.
  President Morales's administration has less than a year left in 
office. Let us hope that he quickly reverses course because the path he 
is on will jeopardize further U.S. support for his government's 
participation in the Alliance for Prosperity. Otherwise, we will have 
no choice but to wait for a government in Guatemala that has the 
integrity to be a credible partner of the United States.
  (At the request of Mr. Schumer, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)

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