[ad_1]
The State Division stated on Wednesday that Alejandro Giammattei, Guatemala’s president till a tumultuous switch of energy this week, was barred from getting into america due to what officers stated was data indicating that he had accepted bribes.
The announcement signaled that america was transferring rapidly to assist the anticorruption drive led by Guatemala’s new president, Bernardo Arévalo. Guatemala was lately engulfed in protests over makes an attempt to forestall Mr. Arévalo from taking workplace, and Mr. Giammattei refused to seem at his successor’s inauguration on Monday.
“Nobody, particularly a public official, is above the legislation,” said Brian Nichols, the highest State Division official for the Western Hemisphere.
The Treasury Division additionally introduced sanctions on Wednesday against Alberto Pimentel Mata, a former power minister in Mr. Giammattei’s authorities, in connection to Mr. Pimentel Mata’s taking bribes and his involvement in quite a few corruption schemes associated to authorities contracts and licenses, officers stated.
Final weekend, U.S. Customs and Border Safety denied entry in Miami to considered one of Mr. Giammattei’s sons, and expelled him on Monday, according to Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah and a supporter of Mr. Giammattei.
Taken collectively, the strikes mirror how america authorities is attempting stem corruption and impunity in Guatemala, Central America’s most populous nation.
Whereas Mr. Giammattei was president, from 2020 to 2024, an alliance of prosecutors, judges, members of Congress and different political figures retaliated in opposition to officers concerned in a pioneering United Nations-backed anticorruption initiative.
“The State Division has credible data indicating that Giammattei accepted bribes in trade for the efficiency of his public features throughout his tenure as president,” Matthew Miller, a State Division spokesman, in an announcement.
The previous president is now “typically ineligible” to enter america, Mr. Miller added, although he didn’t present particular details about the bribes Mr. Giammattei was accused of accepting.
The previous president was not instantly obtainable for remark.
Accounts of Mr. Giammattei’s involvement in corruption schemes have been circulating for years in Guatemala. In 2021, prosecutors opened an investigation into claims that Russian residents paid a bribe to Mr. Giammattei in connection to a mining mission, after an anticorruption prosecutor obtained testimony from a witness who stated he had gone to Mr. Giammattei’s dwelling and delivered a rolled-up carpet stuffed with cash.
Whereas in workplace, Mr. Giammattei denied he had been bribed in relation to the Russian mission.
Inquiries into these claims didn’t advance a lot in Guatemala’s opaque judicial system. Within the case involving the carpet filled with money, the prosecutor trying into the matter was fired and compelled into exile in america.
The State Division designation of Mr. Giammattei comes amid different American efforts to counter criminal activity by political leaders in Central America. America in 2022 extradited Juan Orlando Hernández, a former president of Honduras, to face drug-trafficking costs in New York.
Mr. Giammattei, who embraces staunchly conservative insurance policies, is considered as an ally amongst some political figures in america, reminiscent of Mr. Lee and Richard Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany throughout the Trump administration, who visited Guatemala final week in a present of assist for Mr. Giammattei.
America introduced sanctions final month in opposition to Miguel Martínez, considered one of Mr. Giammattei’s closest associates, along with visa restrictions on practically 300 Guatemalan residents, together with greater than 100 members of Congress, for his or her efforts to weaken Mr. Arévalo and maintain him from being inaugurated.
Former presidents in Central America typically achieve immunity from prosecution within the area by being sworn in as members of the Central American Parliament. However that immunity doesn’t lengthen to the U.S. authorized system or to involvement in violating American legal guidelines. Mr. Giammattei joined the Central American Parliament shortly after his time period expired.
Jody García contributed reporting from Guatemala Metropolis.
[ad_2]
Source link