{"id":1826,"date":"2015-11-10T16:47:11","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T16:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/?p=1826"},"modified":"2017-08-24T10:08:50","modified_gmt":"2017-08-24T18:08:50","slug":"drug-money-in-elections-cicig-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/drug-money-in-elections-cicig-reports\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Drug money in the 2011 elections: The CICIG report"},"content":{"rendered":"

EntreMundos Analysis – September, 2015<\/em><\/p>\n

In the city of Ipala, in Chiquimula, there was only one candidate for mayor running with a local civic group: Esduin Jerson Javier Javier, a.k.a. \u201cTres Quiebres.\u201d The other candidates dropped out after receiving death threats. The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) cites Javier as an archetype of corruption involving construction contractors, ties to drug traffickers, and the interest of \u201cillegal politico-economic networks\u201d (RPEI) in controlling communications media.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Esduin Jerson Javier Javier, more commonly known as \u00abTres Quiebres.\u00bb Photo from Facebook.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Javier was a construction contractor and owns a local cable channel. CICIG, in its new report \u201cPolitical Finance in Guatemala,\u201d explains, \u201cconstruction companies, through commissions, bribes, and other ways of transferring resources, directly and indirectly finance electoral campaigns and end up benefitting from the adjudication of public works contracts\u201d (p. 85).<\/p>\n

The practice is so common and lucrative that \u201cit has been systematically observed that criminal organizations tend to create construction companies to land public works contracts. This allows them to increase their profits as much as launder dirty money\u201d (p. 101).<\/p>\n

CICIG estimates that around 25% of campaign finance comes from \u201ccriminal networks, especially those involved in drug trafficking\u201d (p. 66).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The former Minister of the Interior, Mauricio Lo\u0301pez Bonilla (currently under investigation by the Public Ministry for corruption, has stated, \u201cJavier participates in drug trafficking in the east of the country\u2026 Javier had maintained a low profile, but as structures have been dismantled, resulting from the control that certain families have, he surfaced as a person who has control over the area\u201d (p. 99).<\/p>\n

But this is not a unique case. CICIG estimates that around 25% of campaign finance comes from \u201ccriminal networks, especially those involved in drug trafficking\u201d (p. 66). Former Vice President Roxanna Baldetti said in 2013, \u201cIt\u2019s nothing new, I\u2019ve personally lived it. There are mayors who we know work for the drug traffickers and if we look at the map, they\u2019re mayors who are precisely in border regions, and who gives the money to their campaigns? Drug traffickers. This is no mystery\u2026 We politicians all know who the mafia mayors are\u2026 they\u2019re not in my party. They offered, but I didn\u2019t accept\u201d (p. 97).<\/p>\n

In 2014, Marllory Chaco\u0301n, the \u201cQueen of the South,\u201d plead guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine to the US. According to the investigation cited by CICIG, she \u201cowned a network of 28 businesses\u201d and \u201cbecame an ally of Joaqui\u0301n \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzma\u0301n,\u201d leader of the Sinaloa cartel. She has said to reporters that she has supported several parties in their campaigns.<\/p>\n

But the influence of drug traffickers is not limited to the regional level. Former president of the bank National Mortgage Credit (CHN) Jose\u0301 Armando Llort Quiten\u0303o \u201cmaintained close links\u201d with criminal groups and drug traffickers, and helped President Alfonso Portillo (2000-2004) launder millions of dollars, according to his own testimony given in the US (p. 94).<\/p>\n

And the case of Gloria Torres, Party Secretary of UNE during the government of President Alvaro Colom (2008-2012), also of UNE, respresents the links between \u201ca network dedicated to drug trafficking and the highest levels of a political party\u201d (p. 95). She is the sister of Sandra Torres, UNE\u2019s current presidential candidate, though she worked as UCN\u2019s Party Secretary and stood as a UNC Congressional candidate until she resigned following the publication in July of the CICIG report.<\/p>\n

Obdulio Solo\u0301rzano Montepeque, \u201ca presumed member of a drug trafficking group\u201d was UNE\u2019s financier and elected in 2003 as a Congressman for Escuintla. In 2005 he was part of UNE\u2019s Political Council and, when Alvaro Colom came to power, he was named director of FONAPAZ (National Foundation for Peace). The report states, \u201cAt FONAPAZ, Solo\u0301rzano favored drug trafficker Ottoniel Turcios, extradited to the US in 2010, with public works contracts and administrative appointments. One of Turcios\u2019 daughters, Lorena Turcios Ramirez, worked at FONAPAZ and the construction company Deconor, which received a contract worth over Q30 million (around $4 million). Solo\u0301rzano was assassinated in 2010 (p. 95).<\/p>\n

\"CICIG\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EntreMundos Analysis – September, 2015 In the city of Ipala, in Chiquimula, there was only one candidate for mayor running with a local civic group: Esduin Jerson Javier Javier, a.k.a. \u201cTres Quiebres.\u201d The other candidates dropped out after receiving death threats. The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) cites Javier as an archetype of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1892,"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":[426,410,428,424],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corruption","category-economy","category-money-in-politics","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cicig.jpg?fit=3648%2C3831&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-ts","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10743,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/the-elections-of-corruption-and-drug-trafficking\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1826,"position":0},"title":"The elections of corruption and drug trafficking","author":"EntreMundos","date":"17 mayo, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Guatemala is getting ready for one more election; in the 2023 elections the Supreme Electoral Court allowed the registration of candidates accused of drug trafficking and corruption. In this country, deciding who to vote for is increasingly difficult because the options are discouraging, thus citizens must carefully evaluate and remember\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/dsc_0204.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\/2023\/05\/dsc_0204.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/dsc_0204.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/dsc_0204.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/dsc_0204.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1864,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/uncategorized\/political-finance-in-guatemala-the-cicig-report\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1826,"position":1},"title":"Campaign Finance in Guatemala’s 2011 elections: The CICIG Report","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 noviembre, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo: CICIG chief Iv\u00e1n Vel\u00e1squez, from Colombia. By Richard Brown - Editor, EntreMundos The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) of the United Nations reports in its July, 2015 investigation that in Guatemala \u201cmost political finance is illegal and comes largely from corruption\u201d (p. 18). The Electoral Supreme Court\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\/2015\/11\/cicig-presenta-informe.jpg?fit=770%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cicig-presenta-informe.jpg?fit=770%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cicig-presenta-informe.jpg?fit=770%2C470&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cicig-presenta-informe.jpg?fit=770%2C470&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1887,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/culture\/media-monopolies-in-guatemala-and-their-influence-on-elections-the-cicig-report\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1826,"position":2},"title":"Media monopolies in Guatemala and their influence on elections: The CICIG report","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 noviembre, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"EntreMundos Analysis. September, 2015 The July, 2015 report \u201cPolitical Finance in Guatemala\u201d published by the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), states, \u201ccommunications media play a decisive role in the political process\u201d (p. 55), and that three trends in the Guatemalan media market suggest that the mass media have\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\/2015\/11\/media-monopoly.jpg?fit=728%2C388&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/media-monopoly.jpg?fit=728%2C388&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/media-monopoly.jpg?fit=728%2C388&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/media-monopoly.jpg?fit=728%2C388&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4418,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/uncategorized\/the-art-of-protest-mario-valdez\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1826,"position":3},"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":[]},{"id":3314,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/corruption\/the-public-ministry-is-investigating-president-morales-fcn-party-for-receiving-campaign-contributions-from-a-drug-trafficker\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1826,"position":4},"title":"The Public Ministry is investigating President Morales\u2019 FCN party for drug trafficker campaign donations","author":"EntreMundos","date":"24 agosto, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Two Prosecutors\u2019 Offices have opened three investigations into the political party that led Jimmy Morales to the presidency in 2015. By Ferdy Montepeque of El Peri\u00f3dico This article originally appeared in Spanish on elperiodico.com.gt and is republished here with permission. The Public Ministry\u2019s Money Laundering Prosecutor\u2019s Office is investigating the\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\/2017\/08\/jimmymorales.jpg?fit=1131%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/jimmymorales.jpg?fit=1131%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/jimmymorales.jpg?fit=1131%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/jimmymorales.jpg?fit=1131%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/jimmymorales.jpg?fit=1131%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2176,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/military-impunity-and-the-roots-of-corruption\/","url_meta":{"origin":1826,"position":5},"title":"Military Impunity and the Roots of Corruption","author":"EntreMundos","date":"12 marzo, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Richard Brown \u00a0 \u201cProject X was [a] program to develop an exportable foreign intelligence training package to provide counterinsurgency techniques learned in Vietnam to Latin American countries.\u201d US Defense Department memo, 1991. \u00a0 President Morales\u2019 closest campaign advisor, Coronel Edgar Ovalle, and 18 other ex-military leaders had arrest warrants\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\/2016\/03\/impunidad.png?fit=849%2C376&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/impunidad.png?fit=849%2C376&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/impunidad.png?fit=849%2C376&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/impunidad.png?fit=849%2C376&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826","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=1826"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3305,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826\/revisions\/3305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}