In 2024, the UN reminded Guatemalan authorities that foreign officials who served with CICIG remain protected by immunity.

On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed that Guatemala’s prosecutor’s office “serves crime” after that country’s judiciary issued arrest warrants for Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and Ivan Velasquez, former defense minister and designated ambassador to the Vatican.

RELATED:

Colombians Continue National Strike in Defense of Their Labor Rights

Petro made the comment in reference to allegations against the two officials over alleged irregularities committed years ago during their work with the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). He compared their situation to what he called political persecution he faced from former Colombian Attorney General Francisco Barbosa and to the case of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo.

“The Guatemalan prosecutor’s office, like Colombia’s under Barbosa, like the office that imprisoned President Pedro Castillo, and others, serve crime and not the citizenry,” Petro said and called for international criminal justice to prosecute the crimes of mafias.

The arrest warrants for the two Colombian officials were issued by Guatemala’s controversial Third Court of Appeals, which approved the Public Ministry’s request to detain Camargo and Velasquez in relation to the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. According to Guatemalan prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, Velasquez, while leading CICIG, allegedly approved irregular cooperation agreements in 2017 with two Odebrecht executives.

The Appeals Court has been criticized by legal experts for rulings that curtail press freedom, notably against journalist Jose Ruben Zamora, who has been imprisoned for more than 1,000 days without proven charges. The same court has also handed down rulings against the ruling Seed Movement party, former anti-corruption prosecutor Stuardo Campo, and magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal over the 2023 elections.

The text reads, “It is not uncommon for Uribismo to support the corrupt prosecutor of Guatemala. Petro has already warned: Ivan Velasquez and Luz Adriana Camargo are persecuted for facing impunity in Central America. The popular government does well to defend them before such arbitrariness.”

International Tribunals Against Mafias

“Multinational drug trafficking organizations are trying to take over judicial powers and governments to carry out and launder their hidden business with impunity. The crimes committed by mafias against the Latin American people are crimes against humanity, they are international crimes and must be judged by international criminal justice, which must be funded and strengthened,” ,” the Colombian president said.

In that regard, Petro said he has invited “teams of independent lawyers to draft the first criminal case against multinational mafias so they can be tried and convicted by an international court.”

On Monday night, Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicly responded to the arrest orders against Velasquez and Camargo.

“This action, which lacks legal foundation, constitutes an attack on the fundamental principles of international justice. This measure not only represents a serious deviation from international legal standards, but also violates fundamental human rights,” Colombia’s foreign ministry said.

In January 2023, Guatemala’s Public Ministry had already announced it would pursue legal action against Velasquez over his tenure at CICIG, straining diplomatic relations with Colombia.

At the time, Petro warned that diplomatic ties with Guatemala, then governed by Alejandro Giammattei (2020–2024), would be affected if the prosecutor’s office continued legal actions against Velasquez, who was then serving as his defense minister.

In 2024, the United Nations reminded Guatemalan authorities that foreign officials who served with CICIG remain protected by immunity under the agreement that established the commission.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

IN THIS ARTICLE