The French government reported that it removed Guatemala from the list of countries that do not cooperate with the exchange of fiscal information, but kept Panama.
The European country's authorities reported that Guatemala was removed from the list because it ratified the convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
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.
During its last visit to Guatemala, the IMF warned that if banking secrecy is not lifted in the country, compliance with "international transparency treaties" could be undermined.
After the last visit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Guatemala, the international organization warned that reversing the decrease in tax collection involves strengthening the control of large taxpayers, improving the use of tax information to reduce non-compliance, reallocating resources to risk-based audits, and reconsidering the lifting of bank secrecy for tax auditing purposes.
For Moody's, the withdrawal of the International Commission against Impunity weakens efforts to improve the rule of law in a country with high levels of corruption.
For Moody's, President Morales' decision to end the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) is a setback for the country because corruption is still widespread and institutions are still fragile.
After President Morales decided to end the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity, the Constitutional Court suspended the Guatemalan government's decision.
On January 7th, the Guatemalan government finalized the agreement between the Central American country and the United Nations, and set a 24-hour deadline for the Commission to cease functioning.
Arguing that "it has violated human rights in Guatemala through selective and partial justice", President Morales decided to end the mandate of the United Nations International Commission against Impunity.
After more than ten years of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), the Morales administration announced in 2018 that it would not renew the agreement with the United Nations that establishes the foreign institution dedicated to criminal investigation.
Arguing that it is time to "strengthen State institutions," President Morales has announced that he will not renew the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity, whose term expires in a year.
The controversial decision by the Guatemalan government, which was announced over the weekend, is based, according to Morales, on the idea that after ten years of work by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), the time has come to transfer its capabilities over to the State.
Proportion of people who have paid a bribe in the last year to access a public service: in Panama 38%, in Honduras 33%, in El Salvador 31%, in Nicaragua 30%, in Guatemala 28% and in Costa Rica, 24%.
EDITORIAL
The report "People and Corruption: Latin America and the Caribbean", prepared by Transparency International, shows how inhabitants of Latin American countries have got used to corruption: from the scandalous cases at the highest political level to under the table payments which are made on a daily basis when carrying out procedures as simple as requesting medical care in a public hospital or obtaining a document from a public office.
In the first seven months of the Morales administration government purchases executed 'by exception' decreased by 97% compared to the same period in 2015.
An article on Agn.com.gt reports that "... According to the System for Procurement and Contracts (Guatecompras), from January to July this year central government institutions made 21 awards using the exception process, while in the same period in 2015 706 purchases were made using this format."
Nicaragua is the only country in the isthmus that was left out of the list of countries that meet the "minimum requirements" for fiscal transparency, according to the State Department.
The "Fiscal Transparency Report 2016" by the US State Department, includes Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and El Salvador in the list of countries which meet the minimum requirements for fiscal transparency, which the State Department bases on the public availability of information on the state budget and government contracts and tenders for the exploration and exploitation of natural resources, including methods of tendering and conditions for concessions.
The identification of Grupo Waked in a money laundering network could result in significant changes in the representations of brands marketed in the country.
An article on Prensa.com cites Jorge Garcia Icaza, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama, who emphasized that restraint should excerised when dealing with the case in order to minimize damage which it is estimated could be caused, especially in relation to jobs in the companies under question.
The pressure being put on Panama in the international context has finally forced it to make agreements to exchange tax information, with the most noteworthy being the agreement with Colombia because of the negative implications it has for the Panamanian banking sector.
Prensa.com reports that "...According to the Superintendency of Banks of Panama, at the end of 2015, deposits in the international banking center of Panama from Colombia totaled $6.251 billion, with the South American country being the main center for funds originating from foreign sources. "
Businesses are asking the Executive to reactivate the National Commission against Smuggling to protect issues such as competitiveness, intellectual property rights and the rights of consumers and entrepreneurs.
When the criminal customs fraud structure in Guatemala known as La Linea fell, the National Commission Against Contraband (Conacon) ceased to be operational.
The court ruling that imposed a 19 year prison sentence has forced a review of the projects being managed by the company in the region, where two projects which are underway in Panama alone, total $2.4 billion.
On March 8th the Brazilian justice system condemned Marcelo Odebrecht, former CEO of the largest Brazilian construction company, Odebrecht, to 19 years and 4 months in prison and to pay a fine of $35 million along with executives from the group for the payment of about $65 million in bribes to officials in the case of corruption in the state run oil company Petrobras, reported La Prensa. The ruling mentioned fraud in tenders, where bribes were also paid for the award of the works.
The Inter-American Development Bank has warned that it will make conditional a loan of $419 million for the 2016 on restructuring of the Tax Administration and adoption of anti-corruption measures.
The loans granted by institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank to Guatemala are in danger if key transparency aspects relating to the functioning of the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) are not restructured, as well as the Law on Procurement and Contracting State.
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