A new attorney general took office in Guatemala amid calls to restore confidence after his predecessor fueled the ranks of exiles and prisoners of conscience. This removes what President Arévalo had long called an obstacle: an adversary as top prosecutor.
Yuliana Ramazzini writes in El Faro English on the new Attorney General in Guatemala and the challenges ahead. The piece outlines some of the twists and turns in the process and the various ways in which Consuelo Porras sought to remain in power, at some level. These attempts have failed and the President could, at last, say goodbye to the internationally sanctioned AG and welcome the new AG, Gabriel García Luna.
A new attorney general has taken the helm in Guatemala. For eight years, Consuelo Porras —the top prosecutor sanctioned by more than 40 countries for election meddling— ran a lawfare machine against judges, prosecutors, journalists, and human rights defenders.
On May 17, she left office, with surprisingly little public fuss.
After months of bitter political tensions over the nomination process, President Bernardo Arévalo chose Gabriel García Luna, an understated career judge and discipline official, to lead a Public Prosecutor’s Office ailing from lost international and domestic credibility.
In his first press conference, García Luna announced he would dissolve the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), which oversaw that lawfare. He sacked Rafael Curruchiche, the internationally sanctioned head FECI prosecutor and a key Porras operative.
García Luna also said a new special commission will review all cases of criminalization.
Reading the writing on the wall, two of Porras’ trusted deputies resigned: top advisor Juan Luis Pantaleón and Secretary General Ángel Pineda. The latter, similarly sanctioned, stepped down amid allegations of running an online troll farm and leaking case information.
Speaking of their boss, Porras, former U.S. Ambassador Stephen McFarland wrote on X, “The AG politicized justice like no other AG had done in 41 years of democratic rule.”
Now García Luna faces multiple challenges: on one hand, whether to go after ancien régime corruption; on the other, what to do about the pending cases facing political prisoners and Guatemalan exiles alike.
You can read the full piece, including links and photos, here, New Guatemalan AG Starts Cleaning House After Years of Corruption and Lawfare.
Categories: Corruption, Criminalisation, Criminalization, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Solidarity in Action/Guatemala
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