AmericasU.S., UK slap sanctions on Guatemalan official in corruption crackdown
Reuters
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U.S. President Joe Biden s special envoy for the Northern Triangle Ricardo Zuniga walks during a news conference, in San Salvador, El Salvador April 7, 2021. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas
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The United States and United Kingdom on Monday both imposed sanctions on a member of Guatemala s Congress over alleged corruption, as Washington presses a number of Central American governments to crack down on graft.
The U.S. sanctions were announced hours before U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was due to meet with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei to discuss an increase in Central American migration that has led to a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. read more
U S , UK slap sanctions on Guatemalan official in corruption crackdown
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US sanctions Guatemala officials ahead of Harris meeting
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The Biden administration on Monday sanctioned one current and one former Guatemalan official over allegations of corruption activity.
The sanctions target Felipe Alejos Lorenzana, an elected delegate to the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, and Gustavo Adolfo Alejos Cambara, the former chief of staff for the Alvaro Colom presidential administration, which was in power between 2008 and 2012.
The two men were blacklisted over their alleged interference to undermine anti-corruption efforts in Guatemala, in particular to influence the judicial selection process for magistrates to Guatemala’s Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and Court of Appeal.
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Cambara is currently under house arrest in Guatemala and is the target of several corruption-related investigations, the Treasury Department said in a statement, and was reportedly supplying bribes in concert with Lorenzana to influence the magistrates’ appointments.