JIMMY MORALES

Once the envy of Central America for anticorruption efforts that took down a sitting president, Guatemala’s attorney general’s office has more recently been accused of blocking corruption investigations, protecting powerful interests and persecuting those who pursued the corrupt.

The European Union and the United States are expressing concern about the Guatemalan government’s legal actions against independent judges, lawyers and prosecutors, many of whom participated in past anti-corruption cases

Guatemalan officials say they're trying to arrest a former anti-corruption prosecutor whose ouster led the U.S. to reduce cooperation with the Central American nation’s legal system.

Thousands of Guatemalans have taken to the streets in protest, blocking highways and calling for a national strike over the government’s apparent unwillingness to tackle corruption.

The firing of Guatemala’s top anti-corruption prosecutor and new allegations that someone close to the attorney general was soliciting bribes for protection from investigations have increased concerns that what little capacity the country still had to battle corruption is being dismantled from within

Anti-corruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval has fled Guatemala, arriving in neighboring El Salvador just hours after he was removed from his post.

FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2017 file photo, Constitutional Court President Jose Francisco de Mata Vela leads a press conference in Guatemala City. Selecting the new members of the Constitutional Court has roiled Guatemalan politics since last year. The members will hold their seats for five years and the selection process has been filled with accusations of collusion and corruption. One was for the rector of University of San Carlos de Guatemala, Murphy Paíz, one of those who would help choose new Constitutional Court members, for allegedly colluding on votes. In Guatemala’s justice system, everything can eventually arrive at the Constitutional Court, he said.

With the departure of the United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission last year that supported a war against some of the countrys most powerful political, business and criminal leaders, Guatemalas pursuers have become the pursued. The U.N.-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala left the country in September, after then-President Jimmy Morales decided not to renew its mandate. Both prosecutors are in the United States, which is also where Guatemalas former Attorney General Thelma Aldana went after leading Guatemala's anti-corruption fight. It is a clear attempt by criminal and corrupt networks to take control of the justice system to obtain impunity and protection for themselves," she said. With the justice system under attack from outside forces and from within, President Alejandro Giammattei has remained on the sidelines even though its his party that controls Congress.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., December 17, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional panel on Tuesday cleared the way for a historic vote on impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday. The House Rules Committee by a party-line vote of nine to four approved legislation that provides for six hours of debate, with final votes to follow on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueTrump made the construction of a border wall a centerpiece of his 2016 election campaign, and has continued to focus on building a wall as he seeks re-election next year. Our goal at the end of 2020 was 450 miles, Mark Morgan, acting commission for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told reporters. Trump administration officials have said for months that they aim to build 450 miles of new and replacement wall by November 2020, when the presidential election will be held. He said in April he expected his administration would build close to 400 miles of wall within a roughly two-year timeframe. The $3.6 billion in military construction funds that have been blocked for use for a border wall represent roughly a third of the approximately $10 billion that the Trump administration has obtained for wall construction.

President Donald Trump is meeting with Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales at the White House Tuesday, while members of Congress on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue hammer out rules for the upcoming impeachment vote. The U.S. is now sending non-Guatemalan asylum seekers who sought protection at the U.S.-Mexico border to the country. How to watch Trump's meeting with Guatemala's presidentWhat: President Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in a meeting with the President of Guatemala Jimmy Morales and Mrs. Marroquin Argueta de MoralesPresident Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in a meeting with the President of Guatemala Jimmy Morales and Mrs. Marroquin Argueta de Morales Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2019Tuesday, December 17, 2019 Time: The meeting is scheduled for 1:55 p.m. Location: Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C. "It is time for you and the highly partisan Democrats in Congress to immediately cease this impeachment fantasy and get back to work for the American People," the president wrote.

But this weekend, as Guatemalans head back to the ballot box to choose the successor to the termed-out Morales, the mood among voters is downright bleak. AdvertisementInstead of fighting corruption, Morales has dismantled the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, known as the CICIG. Many believe the presidential election was flawed from the start, when several popular leading candidates were disqualified by electoral officials. She was recently accused by the anti-corruption commission of receiving $2.5 million in illicit campaign contributions for her unsuccessful 2015 presidential bid. A recent increase in emigration from Guatemala is proof that government corruption has direct consequences for countries such as the United States, she said.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File PhotoGuatemala ... has decided to break the deal they had with us on signing a necessary Safe Third Agreement. Guatemala has not been good, Trump wrote. In response, Guatemalas President Jimmy Morales blamed the countrys top court and political opponents for undermining his close ties to the United States. The case against the third safe country deal was brought by several former foreign ministers, the countrys rights ombudsman and a former presidential candidate. Related Coverage Guatemala blames opponents after Trump tariff threatMorales called the politicians petty and said they were attacking the countrys governability.

FILE PHOTO - Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales and Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel are seen during a meeting of the Central American Integration System (SICA), in Guatemala City, Guatemala June 5, 2019. REUTERS/Luis EcheverriaGUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalas Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel on Tuesday blamed unnamed national actors for damaging relations with the United States and said they would be responsible if U.S. President Donald Trump puts tariffs on the poor Central American nation. Jovel said in a Tweet any such measure would be the responsibility of actors she said were ignorant of foreign relations. The Foreign Ministry also issued a statement blaming the countrys top court for the situation, but retracted the statement shortly afterwards. The so-called safe third country deal was thwarted by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that President Jimmy Morales could not sign such an agreement without it first being approved by Congress.