Latin America Reports | Monday, June 16, 2025 
Why did Guatemala issue warrants for Colombia’s Attorney General and ex-Defense Minister?

In a recorded address last Monday, June 2, Guatemalan Public Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche ordered the arrest of two high-ranking Colombian officials. He accused Colombia’s Attorney General, Luz Adriana Camargo, and ex-Defense Minister, Iván Velásquez, of influence peddling, obstruction of justice, and collusion. But the charges were widely dismissed as baseless, including by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Analysts say that, rather than reflecting indecent behavior by Camargo and Velásquez, the charges are part of a politically motivated campaign by Guatemala’s judiciary. Both Colombian officials were senior members of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a body created to combat illicit security networks linked to the Guatemalan state. Beginning in 2006, the United Nations-backed taskforce worked with prosecutors to dismantle large corruption networks in the Central American nation. Velásquez served as its commissioner from 2013 to 2019, uncovering a vast bribery scandal that led to President Otto Pérez Molina’s resignation in 2015. Eventually, CICIG ran into hot water when it investigated Molina’s successor, Jimmy Morales, who retaliated by banning Vélasquez from the country and shuttering the commission in 2019. Morales also appointed Attorney General María Consuelo Porras to head the judiciary – a controversial figure who has been widely condemned for using the justice system to reverse CICIG’s work.…Read more