Caribbean & Central America - October 2016 (ISSN 1741-4458)

The possible implication of President Jimmy Morales’ son, José Manuel, and brother, Samuel Everardo, in a corruption scandal is serving as just one of various complications for the President whose Frente de Convergencia Nacional (FCN-Nación) government took office in January after winning the 2015 election on an anti-corruption platform.

Known as the ‘Botín Registro de la Propiedad’ case, the scandal broke on 1 September when Attorney General (AG) Thelma Aldana and the head of the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig), Iván Velásquez, revealed the existence of a criminal structure in the national property registry office (RGP) under the previous Partido Patriota (PP) government led by Otto Pérez Molina (2012-2015), who was forced to resign last year over corruption. According to Aldana and Velásquez, the criminal structure comprised at least 27 people. So far 22 people have been arrested, including a former RGP director, Anabella de León. According to a Cicig press release, the investigation is looking into the creation of false employment posts (for which more than Q$3m [US$399,000] was paid out), and anomalous payments worth some Q$150,000.

The problems for President Morales, however, came with a subsequent press release issued by Cicig on 13 September which noted that his son and brother had appeared before investigators at the specialised AG unit against impunity (Feci) on 7 and 12 September respectively over false invoices allegedly presented for reimbursement worth Q$90,000 to benefit a restaurant, Fulanos y Menganos, for a meal which had not taken place. On 15 September, public ministry (MP) spokesperson, Julia Barrera, announced that an order had been issued, prohibiting both Morales’ son and brother from leaving the country.

At the time, local investigative daily elPeriódico reported that the restaurant owner of Fulanos y Menganos was Gilmar Othmar Sánchez, an FCN-Nación legislator for the Central American parliament (Parlacen), whose friendship with Morales, (a former actor and comedian), dates back to the time when he would perform at the restaurant, with his brother.

These are not the only corruption-related problems facing President Morales who has assured reporters that he will not intervene in the investigation. An interview with Aldana, published by the Spanish language version of the New York Times (NYT) on 30 September, reported that Jafeth Ernesto Cabrera Cortés, the son of Vice-President Jafeth Cabrera Franco, was being investigated over reports that he had allegedly requested money and an armoured vehicle from a local drug trafficker, identified by other local media as Marlon ‘El Fantasma’ Francisco Monroy. Three days earlier, national daily Prensa Libre cited the head of the AG’s electoral crimes unit, Óscar Schaad, as saying that the AG was investigating some of the FCN-Nación founders for irregular campaign financing as a result of some “pending legal cases”. The daily also reported that the AG is currently analysing the possibility of investigating a campaign donation from Cabrera Jr.

Meanwhile, the ruling FCN-Nación, which has 37 seats in the 158-member unicameral legislature, ahead of the main opposition Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) which has 31, is also under pressure after the supreme court (CSJ) announced on 2 September that it had requested legal action against eight FCN-Nación legislators. The request came two days after the CSJ called for the deputies’ immunity from prosecution to be stripped in relation to accusations of discrimination, abuse of authority, extortion, and influence trafficking presented by the indigenous governor of Alta Verapaz department, Estela Ventura. The allegations related to an incident which took place in May 2016. Ventura, who the local media report has since retracted her complaint, had accused the legislators of attempting to get her to award contracts to companies with which they had ties, claiming that when she refused they insulted her, reportedly calling her a “stupid Indian”.

Judicial reform initiative presented

On 5 October, President Morales; the president of the national legislature, Mario Taracena (UNE); and the president of the judiciary, Ranulfo Rojas, unveiled a judicial reform initiative before congress which would reform 20 articles of the 1985 constitution and six transitory articles.

A congressional press release notes that the reforms are based on five structural issues: recognition of the legal system of indigenous peoples (who account for 44% of the population on national statistics institute figures); guarantees and principle guidelines for the system of justice administration; separation of administrative and jurisdictional functions of the supreme court; creation of a professional career path for justice officials; and strengthening the mechanisms for the exercise of power through adopting a system of inter-organic control for the selection of the highest judicial authorities.

The proposed reform initiative, which Taracena trumpeted as an unprecedented sign of coordination between the three branches of government, is the culmination of a national dialogue process launched at the end of April with the technical assistance of the AG, Cicig, the human rights ombudsman, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Guatemala among other organisations.

The proposal now goes to congress for discussion before being submitted to a popular referendum.

• Valdés

The election on 26 September of supreme court (CSJ) magistrate Silvia Patricia Valdés Quezada as the new CSJ president for 2016-2017 has been slammed by local civil society groups after she responded to a 14 September tweet by Carmen Aída Ibarra, the director of ProJusticia, a local human-rights group, that was critical of President Morales. According to the local press, Valdés came to Morales’ defence, tweeting in response to Ibarra’s remarks “He is trying to do things well. Leave him to govern in peace. As if he were Harry Potter with a magic wand!” which has left these civil society groups questioning her impartiality. Valdés takes office on 13 October.

• Another scandal

On 27 September AG Thelma Aldana and Cicig’s chief Iván Velásquez announced the discovery of another criminal structure under the previous Partido Patriota (PP) administration led by former President Otto Pérez Molina (2012-2015) which dealt in contraband. Known as ‘El Bodegón’, the case dates back to 2014, when the PP government declared a state of calamity due to heavy rains and flooding. The scandal involves a local company Empacadora el Bodegón, which sold the government some Q$492.93m (US$65m) worth of contraband corn and beans, some of it unfit for human consumption. So far eight people have been arrested in relation to the case for illicit association, contraband, dereliction of duty, and money laundering, including former agriculture minister Elmer Alberto López Rodríguez.