Top Prosecutor Prosecutes Prosecutors

TOP PROSECUTOR PROSECUTES PROSECUTORS. Now in search of a 2nd term here as the top attorney general of Guatemala, Consuelo Porras faces charges of corruption. The Catholic Church for one says she has harassed prosecutors instead of doing her job of prosecuting. But the church has stopped short of calling for her, and President Alejandro Giammattei’s, resignation.

Specifically, she has targeted prosecutors working with the UN Commission Against Corruption. As a result, nearly 20 prosecutors, magistrates and judges have gone into exile. Last year the leader of the Special Prosecutors Office Against Impunity, Juan Francisco Sandoval, had to flee to El Salvador after she fired him.

Authoritarianism both right and left

Also, in 2020, the previous attorney general, Thelma Aldana, had to seek asylum in the US. Four years earlier, she had aided a corruption probe which put the former president in prison. Later, the probe landed his vice president and several Cabinet members in prison, too.

Now Porras is reversing the gains against corruption that Guatemala so notably achieved. In addition, indigenous advocates accuse her of thousands of human right violations. And some charge her with ignoring drug cartels which allegedly support the government. But in her defense, she points to 60 accused drug traffickers that she has extradited to the US.

President Giammattei has stoutly opposed abortion in Guatemala, where it remains illegal. And he has resisted pressure to compromise on family values. But we should not look the other way when credible evidence of pervasive corruption arises. We must challenge lawless authoritarianism whether it rises on the left or on the right.

Currently a committee is interviewing Porras and other candidates for the attorney general’s job. But she has threatened to impose sanctions on them if they go too far in their investigations.