Guatemalan Corruption Scandal Dismissed
An anti-corruption march in Guatemala. (Wikimedia)
A judge for Guatemala’s Sixth Criminal Court dismissed the corruption case against politician Roberto Villate earlier this week on the grounds that it lacked merit, according to Prensa Libre. Villate is a congressman and the former secretary-general of the now-defunct Renewed Democratic Freedom Party (LIDER). Prosecutors working on behalf of the Public Commission and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) had accused him of illegally financing his party’s 2015 election efforts.
The case’s dismissal leaves Villate a free man after more than two years of legal proceedings. In September 2017, courts stripped the congressman’s legal immunity so that he could face charges. Prensa Libre reports that his lawyers challenged the ruling more than ten times. The lengthy legal battle was resolved five months later in the Supreme Court of Justice, which overturned a lower court’s restoration of his immunity. By repeatedly challenging the ruling, Villate was able to avoid appearing at hearings, postponing the investigation into his alleged crimes.
In their investigations, prosecutors from the Public Commission and CICIG had uncovered several discrepancies in the amounts spent on campaigning and the amounts that LIDER reported in its electoral audits. During the 2015 elections for president, vice president, and all 158 seats in Congress, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal set a fundraising limit of $6.8 million. The prosecutors allege that the party actually raised $9.2 million and did not report the extra money on its internal accounts or governmental reports. Instead, it allegedly funneled the money through third-party groups like the Association of Friends of Guatemala to pay for additional campaign advertisements and propaganda.
The ruling marks an early blow against renewed efforts to tackle corruption in Guatemala. The country’s new president took his oath of office last week and is already reinvigorating Guatemala’s fight against corruption. Al Jazeera reports that the new administration has made new efforts to investigate corrupt members of the previous legislature, such as executing arrest warrants against several congressmen for alleged influence peddling.
International organizations have previously highlighted corruption and impunity in the courts as major issues facing the country, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project writes. Upon its departure after 12 years in Guatemala, CICIG described the government as a “mafia coalition” acting only in its own best interests. Similarly, in 2017, Human Rights Watch noted that Guatemalan courts struggled to keep up with delay tactics by corrupt officials, which often prevent cases against them from ever reaching trial.
Though the new government has not yet reacted to the ruling, its decision about the case will play a key role in how Guatemalans perceive the administration. Some citizens, such as human rights leader Hernandez Batres, have already criticized the president as being “more of the same,” according to Public Radio International. Pursuing strong anti-corruption policies and ensuring that potentially corrupt politicians face justice could be therefore be crucial to winning support as the new government seeks to carry out its political agenda.