Attorney General Consuelo Porras, sanctioned for corruption in over 40 countries, has not stopped harassing the government of Bernardo Arévalo. Even though he took office in January, the attorney general continues to press forward in her coup crusade. She recently presented a request to the Constitutional Court (CC) to prosecute President Arévalo criminally and to dismiss four of his closest officials: Solicitor General Julio Saavedra, Secretary General of the Presidency Juan Gerardo Guerrero, Minister of Finance Jonathan Menkos, and Secretary of Communication Santiago Palomo.
Porras is a product of the Guatemalan system —she has worked for 30 years in different positions— and her specialty is hollow discourse. In her more than 400-page brief accusing Arévalo, the attorney general argued that the president and officials have disobeyed an injunction granted to her by the Court in May. That injunction was granted against the initiative that Arévalo presented to Congress to modify the Organic Law of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) to make Porras accountable, and after an evaluation, giving the president the power to dismiss her. But the injunction never prevented the president from proposing legislation or criticizing public officials.
The effect Porras seeks, in any case, is not legal but political: to continue presenting herself as Arévalo's opponent and use the machinery of the prosecutor’s office to keep the president in check and sow a national climate of anxiety. In the brief, she quotes dozens of tweets of officials and social organizations with which she seeks to spread the feeling that the eye of “Big Brother” is watching what the population writes online. She sends this message so that certain people feel observed; she openly argues that what is written or reposted by officials when they criticize the attorney general implies the commission of a crime. And it is especially symbolic because the officials she accuses have been the most vocal, including those who have signed legal actions against her.
In response, President Arévalo has petitioned the same Court to revoke the injunction, which he argues should never have been granted. He has also filed a preliminary accusation to have Porras’ immunity revoked, citing her violation of the constitution and abuse of authority. Many believe that Porras has committed numerous crimes, but the obstacle to accountability, of course, lies in the fact that she cannot prosecute herself. Therefore, there is a pressing need for an independent review to investigate the actions of the MP, as recommended by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights after their recent visit to the country that ended on July 26, which highlighted the policy of criminalization.
Consuelo Porras has created an atmosphere of fear and disrespect for human rights as she, the top law enforcement official, openly twists the rules. Corruption cases, on the other hand, are being closed, and we see politicians prosecuted for stealing loads of money going home free, and brandishing the tools of lawfare against prosecutors, judges, and journalists who investigated them.
This is happening amid an internationally observed election of the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice and Appellate Courts. Two nomination commissions are currently reviewing the files of those who aspire to be magistrates of both courts. The commissions work simultaneously, and there are several problems of origin, such as that magistrates of the appellate courts are part of one commission and will apply for the other; the same is true of the members of the Supreme Court. This creates a conflict of interest because they conspire to apply the criterion “I elect you, you elect me” to further the reelection of magistrates under scrutiny. In addition, a group of members of these commissions is fighting to delay and hogtie the process. Now, they are trying to say that, contrary to the custom, the headquarters of the nomination commission should not be at the Jesuit-run Rafael Landívar University, which, as the OAS observation mission noted, would detract from the credibility of the process.
These tactics are being marshaled by the lawyers of those accused of corruption, who seek to control the selection of magistrates to boost candidates committed to impunity; from that list, the Congress will have to elect the next members of the country’s courts in October. It is also objectionable that the entire Judicial Branch changes at a stroke; it should be done in a staggered manner and for longer periods in order to try to guarantee greater judicial independence and that the courts are not subject to political ebbs and flows. However, changing this requires reforming the Constitution, which seems a far-off goal.
Two years ago, in a similar process, Consuelo Porras succeeded in getting a Nomination Commission to include her in the short list from which the president was to re-elect her, despite other candidates scoring higher in terms of probity. She used a tried-and-true technique: she frightened the deans of law schools, who were part of the commission, by threatening to bring cases against them. Then, the Constitutional Court granted an injunction to Porras ordering that she be included in the short list. This time around, given the ongoing climate of instability that the attorney general is kindling, a repeat of that scenario must not be ruled out. This could generate further delays in the court election process or even bring it to a halt, as the current courts have served the interests of Porras and her allies very well.
The OAS observation mission requested by Arévalo has come to Guatemala twice to monitor the court election process with support from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. Senate. Last year, the OAS played a crucial role in supporting democracy so that Arévalo could take office despite attacks by the Public Prosecutor's Office. Once again, the OAS can support a change of courts in the best possible way. International civil society has also established a Panel of Independent Experts. These entities, along with local and international civil society groups, will play a crucial role in conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the process and identifying any irregularities or delays. It is vital to closely monitor this election and to condemn the atmosphere that Porras is fostering in her attempt to maintain control over the judiciary and impede the progress of democracy by restricting President Arévalo's actions.
Álvaro Montenegro is a Guatemalan journalist who received his LL.M. specializing in human rights and international humanitarian law from American University in Washington, D.C. He has been a fellow of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and has co-founded civil society platforms in Guatemala committed to the fight against impunity.
