Guatemala City (AFP) – Guatemala’s attorney general, who has been sanctioned by the United States for corruption, topped a ranking of candidates vying for the role on Thursday, but is considered unlikely to succeed in her bid for a third term. The 72-year-old prosecutor is close to former president Alejandro Giammattei, who faces graft allegations. Washington and the European Union accuse Maria Consuelo Porras too of being corrupt and anti-democratic for having tried to prevent President Bernardo Arevalo, a social-democratic anti-graft campaigner, from taking office two years ago.
Porras, whose term runs out in May, is considered unlikely to stay on for another four-year stint, given it is Arevalo who chooses the top prosecutor. But she scored 92.33 out of 100 in a grading scale that has drawn criticism from observers internationally and in Guatemala, which routinely ranks among the most corrupt countries in the world. Critics argue the ranking focuses solely on professional experience and academic credentials, and fails to take into account ethical values.
Porras is accused of using her office to hound anti-mafia officials, investigative journalists, and leaders of social organizations, driving some of them into exile. The score was announced by a commission formed of academics and leaders from various professional associations, which will submit a shortlist of six candidates for the attorney general to Arevalo on Friday.
The Organization of American States, a regional body which promotes democracy in the Americas, said in a statement that the shortlist “must consist exclusively of individuals who offer the strongest assurances of competence, independence, integrity, and recognized probity.” Organizations including the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the International Platform Against Impunity, and Impunity Watch called in a joint press release for the appointment of an “independent” attorney general in Guatemala.
Remaining in office would guarantee Porras immunity from corruption charges, as well as allegations by UN experts linking her to the illegal adoption of indigenous children in the 1980s, which she denies.
© 2024 AFP
