THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

It is long been understood that the crooked members of Congress will talk a good game of 'Lawnorder' but when push comes to shove will work to prevent any actions that hinder their crooked friends. Much like the steps taken by Crooked Little Marco Rubio for the corrupt power structure in Guatamala.

It is a crime-fighting force which has toppled presidents accused of corruption, dismantled criminal networks commanded by former army officers, and detained security chiefs who operated death squads.

The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) has dented the immunity long enjoyed by the country’s criminal rich and powerful, using 21st-century law enforcement techniques such as witness protection, wiretapping and covert operations to expose criminal networks.
Guatemalan president's downfall marks success for corruption investigators
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The UN-backed force is Latin America’s most successful and popular anti-corruption venture, and is reviled by corrupt officials and criminal networks in Guatemala. It is also currently leading corruption investigations against the country’s president, Jimmy Morales, and his family.

These opponents now have an unlikely ally in Washington DC: the Republican senator Marco Rubio, who last week suspended US aid to Cicig amid claims of Kremlin infiltration.

“This was a stich-up. Rubio changed policy after hearing one side … this is a classic fake news scenario,” said Jo-Marie Burt, Guatemalan expert from the Washington Office on Latin America.

In what appeared to be a separate assault on Cicig, Sweden’s ambassador, Anders Kompass, was last week declared persona non grata and given 30 days to leave the country.

The official justification for the move was that Kompass meddled in domestic affairs by describing Guatemala as a “corrupt society”, but observers said that the real aim was to remove a prominent supporter of Cicig, which Sweden – along with the US and the European Union – has supported financially.

“The most reasonable explanation for demanding ambassador Kompass’s withdrawal is to weaken Sweden’s diplomatic and financial support to Cicig,” the former foreign minister Fernando Carrera told the Guardian. “[Guatemala] has not experienced such international isolation since the worst years of the armed conflict.”

Cicig was created in 2007 to tackle impunity and help dismantle an alliance of criminal networks and clandestine security structures operating as a “corporate mafia state”.

It must be a great comfort to the corrupt Guatamalans to know they have a US Senator on their side, as least as long as they pay for it.