The Government of Guatemala asked this Thursday to investigate the number two of the questioned Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office for possible misuse of public funds, an entity that in 2023 put the presidential transition at risk.
The complaint was presented to the Comptroller General of Accounts (State auditor) by the general secretary of the Presidency, Juan Gerardo Guerrero, against the general secretary of the Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office), Ángel Pineda.
“On instructions from President Bernardo Arévalo, I come to denounce to the population and the Comptroller’s Office the possible use of public funds for the political persecution of Guatemalan citizens abroad,” Guerrero said at a press conference.
The official detailed that, on November 16, 2021, Pineda requested in a letter from then-president Alejandro Giammattei (2020-2024) funds to pay “a law firm in the United States to act against Guatemalan people exiled abroad.” .
Pineda then justified that the lawyers would be hired for “the defense of the interests of the State, despite the fact that only authorized publications on social networks are presented in that office,” Guerrero added and assured that the Ministry of Finance “urgently allocated resources.” additional financial resources for 461,600 quetzales per month (about 60,000 dollars).
«The strategy proposed by that firm was submitted for approval by the current prosecutor [general] Consuelo Porras,” said the Secretary General of the Presidency. According to Guerrero, the firm was contracted in 2021 and 2022. Some 30 journalists, judges and anti-corruption prosecutors have gone into exile due to the persecution undertaken by Porras.
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