This Wednesday the USA imposed sanctions on the previous President of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei and his kids “Vital corruption” and accuses her of accepting bribes within the days after he left the presidency.
Giammattei misplaced to anti-corruption activist Bernardo Arévalo in August when he sought re-election as president. Arévalo was sworn in as president within the early hours of final Monday, after a chaotic inauguration that was delayed for hours by a last-ditch try by congressional opponents to weaken his authority.
In a State Division assertion, Joe Biden’s Democratic administration stated it was banning them from getting into the USA as a result of they “have credible info indicating that Giammatteiaccepted bribes in return for the success of his public duties Throughout his time period as president of Guatemala, he undermined the rule of legislation and authorities transparency.”
They due to this fact declare Gianmattei and his kids Ana Marcela, Alejandro Eduardo and Stefano “not licensed to enter the USA.”
Hours earlier than the sanction in opposition to Giammattei was made public, the State Division imposed it “Monetary sanctions” to former Power and Mines Minister Alberto Pimentel for “corruption.”
The USA has already imposed sanctions on a number of presidents and former presidents, such because the Paraguayan Horacio Cartes and his vice Hugo Velazquez and the Ecuadorian JJaime Bucaram. This punishment was additionally known as for in a letter despatched by a number of US congressmen to the Biden administration to sanction former President and Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for the conviction within the Roads case. The USA has made no progress within the case of the Argentine official.
Within the assertion on Guatemala, the Biden administration notes that “the USA has made clear that it helps Guatemalans looking for to carry corrupt actors accountable.” Over the previous three years, we now have taken steps to impose visa restrictions or sanctions in opposition to almost 400 people, together with civil servants, personal sector representatives and their members of the family, for partaking in corrupt actions or undermining democracy or the rule of legislation in Guatemala.
And it concludes: “Corruption weakens the rule of legislation and democratic establishments, permits impunity, promotes irregular migration, hinders financial prosperity and limits the power of governments to reply successfully to the wants of their populations.”
“The USA stays dedicated to strengthening transparency and governance in Guatemala and all through the Western Hemisphere, and we are going to proceed to make use of all obtainable instruments to advertise accountability for individuals who undermine it,” they famous.
One of the vital allegations in opposition to Giammattei got here in 2021 when an investigation was opened in opposition to him for allegedly receiving bribes from Russian miners to authorize the development of a port on Guatemala’s Caribbean coast.