President Bernardo Arévalo fulfilled his campaign promise by presenting the National Commission against Corruption, a significant step in the fight against corruption in the country. The commission is made up of six government officials and six members of civil society, indigenous peoples and the private sector. Its objective is to identify and dismantle the “patterns” of corruption, as well as to prepare proposals for institutional and legal anti-corruption reforms.
The executive director of the commission, Santiago Palomo, highlighted the importance of this step in the fight against corruption, noting that corruption has been a rule in the country’s political life for a long time. Although the commission will not investigate corruption cases directly, it will have the power to submit complaints to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Importantly, President Arévalo has faced challenges, including harassment from the Prosecutor’s Office, which he has described as an attempted “coup d’état.” In addition, there is controversy surrounding the figure of Consuelo Porras, who heads the Prosecutor’s Office and has been considered “corrupt” by the United States.
Guatemala is in an unfavorable position in the international corruption ranking and faces high poverty rates. President Arévalo emphasized that this commission is a crucial step to free the country and its institutions from the clutches of corruption that have hindered its development and kept a large part of the population in conditions of poverty.
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