{"id":40167,"date":"2021-09-20T12:28:51","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T19:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=40167"},"modified":"2021-09-20T12:28:51","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T19:28:51","slug":"united-states-announces-actions-against-seven-central-american-officials-for-undermining-democracy-and-obstructing-investigations-into-acts-of-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=40167","title":{"rendered":"United States Announces Actions Against Seven Central American Officials for Undermining Democracy and Obstructing Investigations into Acts of Corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"
09\/20\/2021 01:37 PM EDT<\/div>\n

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\n

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State<\/p>\n

The United States is committed to supporting the people of northern Central America by fortifying democracy, rule of law, and accountability, which are the keys to a brighter future.\u00a0 To advance this priority, today we are adding seven perpetrators to the United States\u2019 Undemocratic and Corrupt Actors list, under section 353 of the United States\u2013Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act, which generally makes the perpetrators ineligible for visas and admission to the United States.\u00a0 These designations respond to recent actions that undermined democracy and obstructed corruption investigations in El Salvador and Guatemala.<\/p>\n

The list transmitted to Congress details the following attacks on democracy and on anti-corruption measures:<\/p>\n

El Salvador<\/p>\n

Elsy Due\u00f1as De Aviles, Oscar Alberto L\u00f3pez Jerez, Hector Nahun Martinez Garcia, Jose Angel Perez Chacon, and Luis Javier Su\u00e1rez Maga\u00f1a, current Magistrates of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court,\u00a0undermined democratic processes or institutions by accepting direct appointments to the Chamber by the Legislative Assembly, in a process that appears to have contravened the Salvadoran constitution.\u00a0 The previous five Magistrates were abruptly removed without legitimate cause following the May 1 seating of the newly elected Legislative Assembly.\u00a0 After being installed, the new Magistrates declared their installation by the Legislative Assembly to have been constitutional.\u00a0 The Magistrates undermined democratic processes or institutions by approving a controversial interpretation of the Constitution authorizing re-election of the President despite an express prohibition in the Constitution forbidding consecutive terms of the Presidency.<\/p>\n

Guatemala<\/p>\n

Maria Consuelo Porras Argueta De Porres, current Attorney General of Guatemala, obstructed investigations into acts of corruption by interfering with criminal investigations.\u00a0 Porras\u2019 pattern of obstruction included ordering prosecutors in Guatemala\u2019s Public Ministry (MP) to ignore cases based on political considerations\u00a0and\u00a0actively undermining investigations\u00a0\u00a0carried out by the Special Prosecutor Against Impunity, including by firing its lead prosecutor, Juan Francisco Sandoval, and\u00a0transferring and firing prosecutors who investigate\u00a0corruption.\u00a0\u00a0Angel Arnoldo Pineda Avila, current Secretary General of the MP, obstructed investigations into acts of corruption by interfering in anticorruption probes.\u00a0 The MP has opened a probe into allegations that Pineda interfered in an anticorruption investigation.\u00a0 Pineda is alleged to have tipped off investigative targets about cases being built against them.<\/p>\n

The United States will continue using the tools at our disposal to promote accountability for attacks on the democratic aspirations of the people of Central America.\u00a0 We will continue partnering with government officials who show a dedication to combating corruption and strengthening democratic governance, including as part of an overall policy of addressing the root causes of irregular migration.\u00a0 And we will continue supporting the people of El Salvador and Guatemala as they strive to contribute to and benefit from democratic institutions, generate equitable economic opportunities, and create the futures they desire for themselves and their families.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

09\/20\/2021 01:37 PM EDT   Antony...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s-a","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40168,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40167\/revisions\/40168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}