TI condemns TV entertainer president

A TV entertainer who was elected as president on an anti-corruption ticket, and is now trying to shut down anti-corruption investigators who have asked tough questions about himself and his family has been a focus of the last week says Transparency International (TI).

We’re talking about Guatemala, where President Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian, unilaterally revoked the agreement with the UN which underpins the ability of CICIG, the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, to operate in the country saya TI in its weekly newsletter

Since being founded in 2007, CICIG has had significant success in prosecuting numerous high-level corruption cases in Guatemala. The International Commission has also found evidence of corruption by Morales, his political party, his son and his brother.

The Guatemalan Constitutional Court blocked Morales’s decision, leading to a stand-off in the country which has not yet been resolved. Our chapter in Guatemala has filed legal action against Morales and his allies in government for disobeying the constitutional court’s earlier rulings.

Meanwhile, others are attempting to strip three constitutional court judges of their immunity against prosecution, so they could be charged over their decision to uphold the law in favor of CICIG.

“We strongly believe that CICIG should be able to continue its efforts unimpeded. If impunity prevails in Guatemala, the real losers will be the Guatemalan people, who deserve accountable leaders and functioning institutions. The region as a whole will also lose an effective model for fighting corruption and impunity in weak democracies,” says TI.