Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minex), the Public Ministry (MP), led by Attorney General María Consuelo Porras, sent a letter to the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives and the President of the Foreign Relations Committee. Foreign Affairs of the United States Senate, where it requested that the Department of State, led by Antony Blinken, be investigated for alleged illegal interference in the internal affairs of the country.
In the letter, the secretary general of the investigative entity, Angel Pineda Ávila, included in the Engel list of the United States, expressed concern about the repeated “baseless and malicious accusations” published on July 14, which ensured that contributed this too. to the North American Congress joining the attacks promoted by the State Department against Guatemala.
“It is well known that one of the functions of the Congress of the United States is to supervise the executive branch and apparently there is no investigation of what the Department of State has done against our country, this, because the facts are the opposite in the statements,” added Pineda Ávila.
From this account, in the “interest of guaranteeing transparency and spreading the truth,” he invited the actions of North American entities to be investigated, where he assured that they offer full cooperation and transparency so that the North American country and Guatemala knows the truth.
MP: STATE DEPARTMENT USES POWER AS A WEAPON
In the same line, the general secretary of the MP stressed that they noticed that the Lower House investigated and exposed the use of power as a weapon against political enemies.
“This is exactly what the Department of State has done against the MP, they have even reached the point of promoting information that lacks the truth, trying to damage the image and function of the MP to fulfill the legal and constitutional mandate to be guaranteed . in strict compliance with the law,” he said.
STORY OF THE SANCTION AGAINST MONTERROSO
In the same way, he emphasized that in the communication from the presidents of the Chambers it was shown that the Joe Biden administration was asked to fully use the sanction powers of Section 353 in response to the undemocratic and corrupt actions taken. political actors in the country.
“Five days ago, on July 19, 2023, the State Department fined an MP officer for fulfilling his duty to investigate complaints filed by victims of crimes,” emphasized he mentions the inclusion of the agent. Impunity (FECI), Cinthia Monterroso, on the Engel List.
Along these lines, he emphasized that “this duty to guarantee the appropriate attention to citizens’ complaints was personally confirmed by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, thanks to the openness and transparency of the MP as a “sign of respect for democratic principles.”
From this account, he asserted that the State Department tried to intimidate and coerce the officials of the investigating entity so that they would not fulfill their legal duty, by “arbitrarily and maliciously” allowing the prosecutors to have “obvious” political purpose.
According to Pineda Ávila, the sanctions are interpreted as a “threat” to the independence of the Guatemalan justice system, as well as possible actions of “revenge” against any official who “applies the law correctly.”
SAYS SANCTIONS HAVE BEEN AN ATTACK
Likewise, the MP emphasized that the law of the country establishes the ways and methods of reporting possible illegal acts committed by officials, therefore the State Department, if it has evidence of the possible creation of a crime, must “act properly and result in the corresponding means”, instead of issuing penalties.
In the opinion of the investigating entity, the sanctions became a “defamatory attack” on the institution, so it assured that instead of supporting “illegality”, it made verifiable official information “available” so that they do not allow themselves to be surprised by any kind of information that is not official and do not send false information to the American people, because “there is always readiness, commitment and support for the citizens of their country .”
In that sense, he stressed that the punishments are arbitrary, biased and driven by political interests, and have no logical basis or legal basis, in addition, he stated that the human rights and the presumption of innocence of the prosecutors were violated.
“For this reason, I consider it appropriate to consider the statement made by the special rapporteur of the United Nations Organization on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the exploitation of human rights, Alena Douhan, who stated that ‘the sanctions This kind of United States of America violates human rights and the right to the presumption of innocence of people,’” he said.
SAYS THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS PROMOTING OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
The general secretary of the MP also indicated that as an institution it rejects the “false accusations” promoted by the State Department, because they refer to a clear “ideological and political persecution,” which promotes obstruction of justice, corruption and impunity.
“That negatively affects the rule of law and democracy in Guatemala, thus causing irreparable damage to a strategic ally of the United States of America like Guatemala. As leaders of Congress, you should condemn this illegal interference that is being mobilized of very personal interests,” he emphasized.
SAYS ANTI-SEED INVESTIGATION DOESN’T AFFECT PARTICIPATION
At the same time, he noted that the statement from the House of Representatives and the Senate highlighted the illegal attempt to recover Semilla’s legal status, which he held to be a “baseless and untrue” statement.
The above, because as an MP at all times “we act in strict compliance with the law, in response to complaints and evidence presented by victims of crimes, whose rights have been violated,” said Pineda Ávila, who also emphasized that the cases are based on evidence and “became public,” despite the fact that the details of Semilla’s case are not known, so he urged that “they will be investigated.”
At the same time, he stressed that the investigation did not affect the participation of Semilla’s candidates for popular positions, and that the transition process of the government is progressing, confirming that the rule of law is “respected” in Guatemala.
“For this reason, our message to all political parties is always to respect the law, in accordance with the fact that the constitutional mandate of the MP is to investigate the commission of crimes, as a guarantee of strict following the law,” he said. declared..
CLEAR INTERVIEW, SAID MP
Pineda Ávila emphasized that, “in this sense and because of other statements and actions of the Department of State, it is known that there is a clear intervention and interference in the internal affairs of Guatemala, a situation that must to be monitored by both relations.committee/foreign affairs of Congress.
Instead, he stated that on July 28, 2021, and on March 3, 2023, Porras invited Blinken to instruct State Department staff to report to the MP and identify the “false” allegations made. to remove the former head of the FECI, Juan Francisco Sandoval.
“Who are identified for the possible commission of crimes and where they currently have arrest warrants; On the occasion of this communication, I allow myself to repeat the invitation,” he said.
Along these lines, he pointed out that it is appropriate that the information from “official sources” be known, and the “truth of the facts” be known, as happened in the United States when the members of the Congress the Department of State for the suspicion of an alleged plan that seeks to intervene in the Nomination Commission for the Attorney General, to prevent the re-election of Porras, where “so far, no measure in this regard has been announced by public.”
In addition, the secretary general of the investigative body said that they considered it appropriate to invite the presidents of the Chambers to investigate the baseless and false accusations issued by the State Department, which caused the obstruction of justice, as well as illegal internal intervention. activities in Guatemala and thus violated the sovereignty and independence that “shows” a democratic State.
