We invited former diplomat and Guatemalan vice-presidential candidate Betty Marroquin back to the podcast to pick up where we left off the last time we spoke a few weeks ago. You should listen to the first podcast too because it places in context a lot of what we talk about in this episode.
There is a link below that will take you to a short but informative interview at The Impunity Observer whose team consulted with a constitutional attorney and former Professor of Constitutional Law José Luis González. It is an overview of some of the leading legal issues Guatemalan jurists must contend in an ongoing political and legal battle to de-politicize the judiciary.
In addition to an overview of the recent history that gave rise to the current issues, Betty and I discuss how Russia has been meddling in Guatemalan affairs via the United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs or non-profits). The sole aim of this meddling is undermining regional security and American interests. While we did not talk about it in this episode, the same can be said about Communist China and, to a lesser extent, the Iranian regime and its proxies.
With regards to meddling by NGOs and illegal organizations such as the former CICIG, the Guatemalan Congress should continue to assess the damage it has caused and its decisions, if they have any legal effect in Guatemala, quashed. Guatemalan courts, not international organizations, should be the final and only judges of crimes committed in Guatemala. There are plenty of Guatemalan jurists at the ready to help strengthen their legal institutions. If they want America's support, I'm certain we shall provide it. The foreign meddling by Russia, China, progressive NGOs must be exposed and stopped.
Guatemala is a beautiful country with a magnificent culture and people. For some bizarre reason, the left the world over has been obsessed with undermining Guatemalan institutions and their constitution. The reason? You decide. I think part of the reason why Guatemalan institutions have been under assault by cultural radicals on the Left since the end of their civil war in the 1990s is that the Guatemalan Constitution protects life from conception until natural death. More on that later.
We have another set of programs in the works with other Guatemalan civil society leaders and jurists.
Further Reading
Guatemala’s Constitutional Crisis Explained, A Legal Opinion on the Constitutional Court, Congress, Prosecutor General (Impunity Observer, July 17, 2020).
The Long Arm of Injustice: Did a United Nations Commission Founded to Fight Corruption Help the Kremlin Destroy a Russian Family? (2018 U.S. Congressional hearing).
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Rule of Law in Guatemala and the Constitutional Crisis