Ex-Guatemala leader arrested in corruption scandal
Guatemala suffered yet another blow to its already damaged trust in public officials Tuesday with the arrest of former President Álvaro Colom and much of his former cabinet, as part of a sweep that also nabbed the chairman of charity Oxfam International, Juan Alberto Fuentes, who worked as finance minister during the Colom presidency (2008-2012).
The attorney general's office and the UN International Committee Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) carried out the investigation leading to the arrests.
According to an AP report, the head of the special anti-graft prosecution unit Juan Francisco Sandoval said they are looking into the questionable purchases of public buses for Guatemala City. Prosecutors say the process was deeply flawed and included subsidies and other measures that benefited public servants.
A customs fraud scandal that allegedly sent kickbacks to then-president Otto Perez Molina and his VP Roxana Baldetti led both to resign in 2015. They have been jailed awaiting trial, but more than 100 defense filings have delayed the process.
Other former cabinet members netted in Tuesday's sweep include Salvador Gándara Gaitán (interior), Ana Francisca del Rosario Ordóñez (education), Abraham Valenzuela (defense), Edgar Alfredo Rodríguez (Labor), Óscar Velásquez (economy), Celso David Cerezo Mulet (health), Gerónimo Lancerio Chingo (culture) and Luis Alberto Ferraté (environment).
CICIG has been at the center of multiple investigations in recent months, including one which nearly brought President Jimmy Morales to face charges on improper election campaign financing in last year, allegations that the body still wishes to press.
However, their efforts to strip Morales of his presidential immunity were eventually stymied by political maneuvering and with the support of various factions of lawmakers. Morales, who recently held a high-profile visit in Washington with US President Donald Trump, unsuccessfully tried to expel the head of CICIG from the country last year.
Pictured: Former Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom, 66, is arrested under corruption charges in on Feb. 13.
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