Incidents of Guatemala’s judges and prosecutors being forced to resign, dismissed, harassed, intimidated, arrested and judicially persecuted are being recorded with increased frequency. Notably, all those affected in the reports have been involved in investigating, prosecuting, and adjudicating large-scale high-level corruption and gross human rights violations.
“The United States is deeply concerned by the Guatemalan Public Ministry’s unacceptable mistreatment and persistent abuse of current and former independent prosecutors,” wrote State Department Spokesperson Ned Price.
When Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa took over Guatemala's tax agency in 2016, he took on a previously untouchable set of targets: officials, families and companies suspected of bilking much-needed revenue from the government.