Commission: Quarter of Guatemala political money comes from criminal groups

[Judi Lynn]

Commission: Quarter of Guatemala political money comes from criminal groups

Friday 17 July 2015 at 4:11 PM ET

(JURIST)

The UN International Commission Against Impunity (official website, in Spanish) reported (report, in Spanish) that approximately a quarter of the money used for Guatemalan political campaigns is from criminal groups. The main criminal group being drug traffickers. The report also indicated that government contractors themselves contribute to more than half of the funds. Ian Velasquez, head of the commission, stated "Corruption is the unifying element of the Guatemalan political system based on an amalgam of interests that include politicians, officials, public entities, businessmen, non-governmental organizations and criminal groups." The report suggested several campaign finance reforms including limiting private funding, strengthening institutional coordination, and reforming the system itself.

This report came just one day after the commission petitioned (text, in Spanish) to take away the immunity of one of Guatemala's vice presidential contenders, Edgar Barquin for allegedly laundering money that was used to fund his political campaign. This is not the first politican to face these charges in Guatemala, in February 2015, former Guatemalan president Alfonso Portillo was released [JURIST report] from a US prison after serving a sentence for taking bribes from Taiwan.

http://jurist.org/paperchase/2015/07/commission-quarter-of-guatemala-political-money-comes-from-criminal-groups.php

(Short article, no more at link.)

[Judi Lynn]

1. UN: Criminal groups fund 25 percent of Guatemala's politics

UN: Criminal groups fund 25 percent of Guatemala's politics

Sonia Perez D., Associated Press

Updated 6:55 pm, Thursday, July 16, 2015

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A quarter of the money fueling Guatemalan politics comes from criminal organizations, primarily drug traffickers, according to a report released Thursday by a United Nations commission.

The U.N.'s International Commission Against Impunity also said in the report that government contractors contribute slightly more than 50 percent of the campaign financing.

The commission concluded that the country's elections are rife with illegal money and corruption is the glue holding the system together. Political parties consistently spend far more money than they report taking in and several regularly exceed spending limits without consequence.

"Corruption is the unifying element of the Guatemalan political system based on an amalgam of interests that include politicians, officials, public entities, businessmen, non-governmental organizations and criminal groups," Ivan Velasquez, head of the commission, said Thursday.

. . .

The report was released one day after the same commission and Guatemalan prosecutors petitioned to have a candidate for vice president stripped of his immunity for allegedly laundering funds that were later used to finance political activities.

http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/UN-Criminal-groups-fund-25-percent-of-6389384.php