Over the past decade, Guatemala has made unprecedented progress in tackling corruption and impunity. The country has seen many powerful criminals, government officials, and influential elites who were once deemed untouchable face justice. This progress is due in great part to the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a UN-backed agency that assists local institutions in exposing criminal networks that have infiltrated the state. Now, however, Guatemala's progress and the CICIG itself are under threat.
CICIG critics have groped for an accusation that might stick, at times portraying the body as a tool for U.S. interests and at other times as a tool of Latin America's far left. The most recent attack baselessly claims that the commission has colluded with the Kremlin. These allegations of Russian interference provided the CICIG's enemies with a new strategy to diminish its support internationally, and the accusation has gained traction among a small minority of legislators in Washington. Reducing U.S. support for one of the most successful global anticorruption mechanisms would pose serious risks to Central American regional security, as well as to the security interests of the United States.
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