The Guatemala Times Defends Itself

The English-language Guatemala Times has issued a statement defending and clarifying its stance towards the admirable work done by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala.   Here's its position:

We applaud, support and believe in CICIG´s work, both under Carlos Castresana and under the new commissioner Francisco Dall´Anese.

CICIG is the only hope for justice that Guatemala has had and will have for the future. Is CICIG 100% perfect? No. But there is nothing 100% perfect in Guatemala and in the world. And for anyone to pretend that an institution has to be 100% perfect in order to be useful and constructive, is plain idiocy.

 The concept of justice managed by Guatemalan who benefits from an ineffective justice system is self-serving; they only want justice tailored to their benefit. And that is not justice that is prostitution of justice.

Well, that is what we had before CICIG came to Guatemala, Justice was a prostitute, and it still is in many instances.

In Ex-president Portillo´s case, his friends, allies, ex-members of his government and business associates where attacking CICIG and they keep at it.

In Ex- minister Vielman´s case, his friends, allies, business associates, ex-members of the Berger government are attacking CICIG and they will not stop. The best example is ex-vice president Eduardo Stein, who was an active promoter and supporter of CICIG until it touched some of his friends and ex-members of the government he was part of.

In the Rosenberg case, where CICIG actually saved Guatemala’s democracy, the anti government sectors attacked CICIG because the findings of CICIG prevented President Colom from going down.

Critics of CICIG are people who consider themselves to be from the right wing, from the left wing and whatever else they call themselves (including the dark forces).

By logical deduction, the sectors that have the most to loose by a functional, independent justice system are by default the sectors who want to destroy CICIG. That includes all the sectors that now make more money and have more power be it economic or political, because justice has not reached them (yet). The current government of President Alvaro Colom has to be included in the list of sectors that are actively obstructing CICIG´s work.

By the way, resistance to functioning judicial systems is not just a Guatemalan phenomenon, or a Guatemalan problem. What makes Guatemala somewhat different is that there are always several Guatemala’s, never a nation.

The best example I can give of another very notorious place where the enforcement and strengthening of “Lady Justice”” is very unpopular, is on Wall Street. Guess why.

I agree with the editors at the Guatemala Times.  CICIG appears to have done a very good job.  Those criticizing its work, though not all, happen to be many of the same people that it is targeting for prosecution.  For the sake of the people of Guatemala, I really want to see CICIG work.

However, given that individuals in the congress, the courts, the executive branch, the military, the police, and in the business world are working to undermine it, I'm not that optimistic that we are about to turn a corner anytime soon.  Here are a few things that would make me feel better.

Guatemalan leaders and the international community reach an agreement to extend its mandate for five or more years.

Next year's presidential candidates come out publicly in support of CICIG and commit to making its recommendations a priority of their administration.

Congress passes several of CICIG's recommendations.  The president stops trying to appoint people who CICIG has flagged as potentially corrupt to positions of authority.

Increase CICIG's staff and resources - specifically, protect Guatemalans working with the organization.

Provide a realistic update on the status of the prosecutor's office - when will it be ready to stand on its own two feet.

How much can CICIG accomplish without internationalizing the commission to include all of Central America and Mexico (or at least El Salvador)?

These are just a few thoughts.  I haven't finished reading everything that's come out about CICIG in the last few days so maybe some of this has been taken care of.  So forgive me.

What about you?  How are you feeling about CICIG today?