{"id":10058,"date":"2022-07-19T07:02:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T15:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/?p=10058"},"modified":"2022-07-18T07:05:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T15:05:48","slug":"citizens-suffer-the-consequences-of-an-inefficacious-ministry-of-public-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/citizens-suffer-the-consequences-of-an-inefficacious-ministry-of-public-services\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Citizens Suffer The Consequences Of An Inefficacious Ministry of Public Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Samuel \u00c1lvarez Morales, Director of Visi\u00f3n Legislativa<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In May of 2022, President Alejandro Giammattei selected Consuelo Porras to serve four more years as Attorney General of the Ministry of Public Prosecutor (MP) in spite of her questionable administration.\u00a0 The public criticized the decision on social media and organized demonstrations.\u00a0 There was also indifference present among the many who are not aware of how the lack of an independent Office of Public Prosecution can affect them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It’s important to review history in order to explain how damaging the work of an attorney general can be to the everyday citizen.\u00a0 The Ministry of Public Prosecutor was created by the constitutional reforms of 1993.\u00a0 It was created as a means of limiting interference in the justice system and to avoid abuses of power like those committed by authoritarian military governments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The MP has specific functions such as preserving rule of law and respecting human rights besides initiating criminal prosecution.\u00a0 It is autonomous and is hierarchical with the attorney general, appointed by the President\/Executive Branch for four years, at its head.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Simply stated, the designated attorney general (AG) will decide on what the priorities are for the Ministry which might be investigating gangs, crimes of gender violence, human trafficking, corruption, narco-trafficking or other types of criminal activity.\u00a0 Additionally, the AG names the attorneys assigned to investigations and prosecution of those responsible for criminal activity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

To Whom does the Attorney General Answer?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>This question raises an important issue for us, i.e. the legitimate or illegitimate administration of the agency by its head, someone who holds the position based on authorization required to come from the president.\u00a0 That would not be a problem if there were certainty that the designee were going to respect and guarantee the autonomy of the institution.\u00a0 But to be appointed, candidates aspiring to hold the position must guarantee that there will be nothing \u00abuncomfortable\u00bb for the president, his\/her inner circle or financial supporters.\u00a0 One must take into account that the president is empowered to appoint without putting in place any clear or pre-established parameters for the appointee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>What happens when the MP’s interests are directed towards protecting monopolies, oligopolies, when it flirts with protection for those actors who promote systemic corruption within their own state and when it protects organized crime?\u00a0 Then the institution moves against its own attorneys or judges who don’t align themselves with powerful players in the establishment.\u00a0 The assault extends to the citizenry which resists and provides evidence against an oppressive system that limits fundamental liberties.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Guatemala defending human rights is criminalized e.g. Bernardo Caal, Rigoberto Ju\u00e1rez, Nanci Cinto, all defendors of human rights have been targeted.\u00a0 Another persecuted group is journalists such as Sony Figueroa and those in the legal professions, e.g. Miguel \u00c1ngel G\u00e1lvez, Juan Francisco Sandoval, Ericka Aifan and Virginia Laparra.<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 20th of 2022 the EFE (Spanish international news wire) made public that the former attorney general of Guatemala, Thelma Aldana, assured them that during the last few years 24 individuals working in the legal system have had to flee the country due to their key roles in the fight against corruption between 2014 and 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>For the ordinary person this can be irrelevant.\u00a0 But the international community observes and confirms the lack of clean government which disincentivizes investment, resulting in unemployment and migration.\u00a0 All this adds up to ideal conditions for criminal groups to establish themselves, threatening life, liberty and private property.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Regarding how this situation is seen in other countries–Giammattei’s appointment provoked European Union concerns about Guatemala having agreed to combat corruption.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The MP was created to break up a powerful government and to stop atrocities being committed by the state’s military, a goal which was not achieved.\u00a0 What actually happened is that power is concentrated leaving us without a true republic and living in a situation ripe for establishing an authoritarian-totalitarian government which threatens human dignity and liberty.\u00a0 It violates the notion of a just state and the Constitution of Guatemala.\u00a0 The MP facilitates political and private interests which are harmful to everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Samuel \u00c1lvarez Morales, Director of Visi\u00f3n Legislativa \u00a0 In May of 2022, President Alejandro Giammattei selected Consuelo Porras to serve four more years as Attorney General of the Ministry of Public Prosecutor (MP) in spite of her questionable administration.\u00a0 The public criticized the decision on social media and organized demonstrations.\u00a0 There was also indifference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[426,453,424],"tags":[3909,3911,3908,3910,3912],"class_list":["post-10058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corruption","category-frontpage-en","category-politics","tag-consequences-of-the-mismanagement-of-the-mp","tag-functions-of-the-attorney-general-in-guatemala","tag-how-it-affects-the-re-election-of-consuelo-porras","tag-lack-of-the-rule-of-law-in-guatemala","tag-public-ministry-in-guatemala"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/fotos-articulo-4-1.jpg?fit=1500%2C1875&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-2Ce","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10737,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/terror-against-journalists-and-freedom-of-expression\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":10058,"position":0},"title":"Terror against journalists and freedom of expression","author":"EntreMundos","date":"17 mayo, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Jos\u00e9 Cancinos The persecution, criminalisation, penalisation and even imprisonment of journalists and media employees by the regime of Alejandro Giammattei through its operator, the Public Prosecutor's Office led by prosecutor Consuelo Porras, and supported by judges, personalities and organizations in favor of impunity, has led international community organizations to conclude\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCorruption\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/corruption\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/119468091_3344546532329829_3528739754767434705_n-1.jpg?fit=768%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/119468091_3344546532329829_3528739754767434705_n-1.jpg?fit=768%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/119468091_3344546532329829_3528739754767434705_n-1.jpg?fit=768%2C960&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/119468091_3344546532329829_3528739754767434705_n-1.jpg?fit=768%2C960&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10582,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/megaprojects\/evictions-increase-under-the-giammattei-administration\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":10058,"position":1},"title":"Evictions increase under the Giammattei administration","author":"EntreMundos","date":"8 marzo, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Gilberto Escobar\u00a0 Evictions of two types have been on the rise in Guatemala over the past two years: legal evictions based on a judicial order, and extrajudicial evictions, which are not based on a judge\u2019s order and take place in the dark hours of night or early dawn. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCommunity Tourism\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Community Tourism","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/community-tourism\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/portada.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/portada.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/portada.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/portada.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11431,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/miscellany-of-fight-and-resistance\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":10058,"position":2},"title":"Miscellany of fight and resistance","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 noviembre, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"BY LISSETH SANTOS TRANSLATED BY THOMAS LANG The age-old fight and resistance of native peoples was renewed when a historic uprising led by the Board of Directors of the 48 Cantons of Totonicap\u00e1n, the Indigenous Mayoralty of Solol\u00e1, the Indigenous Mayoralty of Nebaj, the Xinka Parliament, and the indigenous communities\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCorruption\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/corruption\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10580,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politica\/desalojos-aumentan-durante-el-gobierno-de-alejandro-giammattei\/","url_meta":{"origin":10058,"position":3},"title":"Desalojos aumentan durante el gobierno de Alejandro Giammattei","author":"EntreMundos","date":"8 marzo, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Por Gilberto Escobar\u00a0 En Guatemala, durante los \u00faltimos a\u00f1os, los desalojos han ido en aumento y se han dado en dos modalidades: los desalojos legales que tienen una orden judicial y los extrajudiciales, los que\u00a0 no van acompa\u00f1ados de ninguna orden de un juez y que ocurren\u00a0 en horas de\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abBosques\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Bosques","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/medio-ambiente\/bosques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/portada.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/portada.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/portada.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/portada.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11390,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/environment\/the-right-to-dream-of-democracy\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":10058,"position":4},"title":"The right to dream of democracy","author":"EntreMundos","date":"9 noviembre, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"POR FREDY PASTOR TRANSLATED BY EMMA PORTER For Guatemalan society, a society that is extremely stratified, hierarchical, and accustomed to silence, talking about politics is uncomfortable. People say things like \u201cIt\u2019s better not to talk about that,\u201d \u201call politicians are the same,\u201d or \u201cthings have always been this way, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCommunity Action\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Community Action","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/community-action-en-2\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231007_163420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231007_163420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231007_163420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C540&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231007_163420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C540&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231007_163420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C540&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4418,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/uncategorized\/the-art-of-protest-mario-valdez\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":10058,"position":5},"title":"The Art of Protest: Mario Valdez","author":"EntreMundos","date":"4 septiembre, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The day after Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales ordered armored vehicles donated by the US to surround the offices of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Mario Valdez got to work in Guatemala City\u2019s Constitution Square. By Richard Brown - Editor \/ EntreMundos Valdez went to the square because,\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCulture\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/culture\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mariovaldezarte.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mariovaldezarte.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mariovaldezarte.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mariovaldezarte.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mariovaldezarte.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10059,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10058\/revisions\/10059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}