Article Author:
Associated Press
Sonia Perez D.
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — One of the last official pillars of Guatemala's effort to eradicate corruption was announced this week by his leave the post. The expulsion or resignation of a series of other anti-corruption activists that shook the ruling class of the Central American country.
Jordan Rodas Andrade was a little-known law professor at a university in the sixth-largest city in Guatemala when he was elected human rights prosecutor by Congress five years ago. did. He surprised many by participating in an anti-corruption effort that targeted many of the country's most powerful figures.
I'm fed up," Rodas said in an interview this week as his five-year term came to an end on Saturday. The ombudsman's post is intended to protect the constitutional rights of Guatemalans and may come into conflict with other officials.
His repeated attempts to block government action The court effort so irritated then-President Jimmy Morales that he called Rodas an "impalito", or "little injunction." One of them, he briefly thwarted Morales' attempt to oust the leader of the UN anti-corruption mission in Guatemala.
In 2019, Morales finally enforced a UN-backed anti-corruption mission. The mission, working with local prosecutors to root out corruption, resulted in the imprisonment of several high-ranking officials, including his former president Otto Perez Molina.
Under the current president, Alejandro Giammatei, several Guatemalan prosecutors involved in the task and the judges who handled those cases were ousted.
Juan Francisco Sandoval, who headed the Attorney General's Anti-Corruption Division, was fired in July 2021 and defected to the United States. He said his office had launched an investigation into Giamattei. Authorities later announced they had ordered him arrested. In response, the US government suspended cooperation with the Office of the Attorney General.
Rodas said Giammattei was clinging to power and had succeeded in embracing and centralizing other branches of government "as if he were an emperor".
"I thought Jimmy Morales hit rock bottom, but no. Surprise," he said. Giammattei denies corruption allegations and resents US pressure to elect another attorney general.
The Congress chose Alejandro Cordoba to succeed Rodas. A former Supreme Court judge, he had been flagged by the Attorney General's Office of Anti-Corruption for meeting with a businessman arrested on suspicion of corruption and influence peddling, including the selection of judges. . Cordova was not investigated. She has the support of the president and ruling party lawmakers.
Rodas' resignation comes three months after Jean Mattei reappointed Attorney General Consuelo Porras, a key figure in the prosecution and dismissal of anti-corruption activists. The U.S. government has revoked her visa and placed her on a list of corruption suspects in the region.
Jorge Santos, coordinator of the Guatemalan Human Rights Defenders Protection Unit, a non-governmental organization, said Rodas has expanded the reach of the Ombudsman to investigate disappearances, particularly those at the hands of security forces. , said it had set up an office to defend. Freedom of expression and human rights activist, Santos said.
"The challenge for the new ombudsman is to be very close to those in power and their continued impunity," he said. I was. "We expect his independence from these figures."
Rodas' independence has brought him political prestige, as has a long list of his enemies. Opposition in Congress has tried unsuccessfully several times to initiate a process that could have him removed. And the lawmaker has been held hostage for months in his office's funds, unable to pay his staff salaries. Rodolfo Neuze said Rodas had failed to strengthen the organization and divided Guatemalan society.
"At the moment, many believe that the Ombudsman's office serves leftists, criminals and anti-family ideologies," he said. ``He did good things no one knew, but he will be remembered for supporting the cause that polarized the country.''
He has received threats from ultra-right groups defending accused soldiers and from targets of corruption investigations. he is one of the accused.
Rodas said that while he was concerned for the well-being of his family, he was not concerned for himself. He hasn't ruled out getting into politics, but he hasn't announced anything.
"I don't need to go into exile. When I'm done, I'd like to dedicate myself to the academia where I'm from. We'll have Jordan for a while."