Twelve years after having settled in Guatemala and after multiple struggles for the non-renewal of its mandate, from today the International Commission against Impunity is no longer operating.
In August 2007, the Congress of the Republic approved the creation of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which arrived in the country with the mission of investigating criminal structures operating within government institutions, work done in association with the Public Prosecutor's Office.
With the decision of Congress not to remove immunity from President Morales, the Public Ministry and the Cicig have been prevented from continuing the investigation into irregular electoral financing.
As expected, the Guatemalan Congress decided to vote against the request for legal action filed by the Public Prosecutor to waive the immunity of Jimmy Morales.This means that the president is spared, at least for now, from being tried in the case of allegedillicit electoralfinancing.
Four petitions for pre trial hearings have already been lodged against President Morales, following his request to expel the leader of the International Commission against Impunity from Guatemala.
EDITORIAL
In less than a week a series of events took place which have left the country on tenterhooks.The Public Ministry and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) filed a petition for a pre trial hearing against President Morales for alleged illicit electoral financing; Morales declared the Commission of the Cicig, Iván Velásquez, persona non grata, and requested his expulsion from the country. In response to this, three other requests for preliminary hearings have been filed in the last few hours.
The amount paid to the Tax Authority corresponds to unpaid taxes, plus penalties and interest.
An article on Lahora.gt reports that the Superintendent of the SAT, Juan Francisco Solorzano, said that "... It is the largest payment made by any entity, in relation to adjustments that had been made or that had been ordered as a result of a judicial process from which it was ruled that there was tax fraud or tax evasion. "
A proposal has been made to create a special and temporary tax on assets above a certain amount in order to finance the operations of the Public Prosecutor against impunity and corruption in the state.
Ivan Velasquez, head of the International Commission against Impunity (CICIG), believes it is necessary to move on from "... discussing corruption to taking action", and therefore is proposing, together with the Public Ministry, the creation of a new tax to strengthen the institution's budget in the fight against impunity and corruption.
A network made up of businessmen and officials from the Guatemalan Social Security Institute, agreed purchase prices for medicines and a list of companies that were able to participate in the contracts.
The head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Ivan Velasquez, told a news conference that the now dismantled network consisted of "...
The Public Ministry of Guatemala believes it is "likely" that President Otto Perez Molina was involved in the customs fraud network known as "La Línea" and has called for his impeachment in the Supreme Court.
The International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) and the Public Prosecutor filed a request to lift the immunity of President Otto Perez Molina and to carry out a formal investigation based on the evidence which has been gathered.
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