The U.S. government revoked the visa on Wednesday to former Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei for his “significant involvement” in acts of corruption.
“The State Department has credible information indicating that Giammattei accepted bribes in exchange for the performance of his public functions during his tenure as president of Guatemala, actions that undermined the rule of law and transparency of the government,” the department reported in a statement signed by its spokesman Matthew Miller.
Gianmattei left office a few days ago, when he took office, when he took office, when he took office, who faced various difficulties from the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s Office in his attempt to disqualify his party, the Seed Movement, and ignore the electoral results.
No one, especially a public servant, is above the law. The United States is committed to doing our part to fight corruption around the world, including in Guatemala. Corruption undermines economic growth, hinders development, destabilizes governments and undermines democracy, stealing their rights and resources from citizens,” he said later in a message on social network X, the deputy secretary of the State Department for the Western Hemisphere, Brian Nichols.
Nichols was in Guatemala City on Tuesday with a U.S. delegation that announced the donation of a new item of financial aid for the social development of that country.
In addition to the former president, his adult sons Ana Marcela Dinorah Giammattei Cáceres, Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Cáceres, and Stefano Giammattei Cáceres, and Stefano Giammattei Cáceres have been included in the list of eligible to enter the United States, his adult sons Ana Marcela Dinorah Giammattei Cáceres, Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Cáceres, and Stefano Giammattei Cáceres, in accordance with the 2023 Department of Foreign Program Allocations Act.
In an inventory of measures taken against corrupt actors over the past three years, the U.S. describes visa restrictions or sanctions – to nearly 400 people, including public officials, representatives of the private sector and their families, for participating in corrupt activities or undermining democracy or the rule of law in Guatemala.
On January 10, shortly before leaving the presidency, Giammattei traveled to Washington to the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) to condemn an alleged international “international interfering” in his country.
“We have remained firm in our commitment to the Democratic Charter,” Giammatei said. Even if they have believed and left to be carried away by deceptions and tricks with an alleged coup d’état that cannot happen against someone who does not hold power.
Just this Wednesday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed financial sanctions, consisting of the blocking of assets, on the former Minister of Energy and Mining of Guatemala Alberto Pimentel Mata, alluding that he would have requested large bribes of more than a million dollars to mining industry groups in Guatemala in exchange for mining licenses.
In its conclusion, the State Department stated that corruption weakens the rule of law and democratic institutions, allows impunity, feeds irregular migration, hinders economic prosperity and restricts the ability of Governments to respond effectively to the needs of their peoples.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in El Mundo