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Friday, January 29th, 2016  |  USD: Buy 531.29 / Sell 543.92
20 years

This feisty UN agency just put Guatemala’s president in jail for corruption

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GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemalans took to the streets on Thursday, armed with flags, fireworks and vuvuzelas. So spirited was the celebration that it might have seemed this small Central American country had won the soccer World Cup. In fact, they weren’t there to cheer a sports victory, but rather the resignation of president Otto Pérez Molina…


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  • SDPUS

    Without this type of program being brought to Costa Rica, there is no hope of defeating corruption here. It will take interdiction from the outside to remove a plethora of corrupt from the inside. But first, the Ticos must demand such help. At this point, i has become obvious, President Solis can’t do it alone. The PLN party is too entrenched. I hope President Solis is visiting New York and DC, to garner such help!! DOWN WITH CORRUPTION!!! Bring on the International Commission Against Impunity in Costa Rica!!!

    • dr meno

      Are you crazy, getting help against corruption from the USA. The most corrupt country in the world right now. That is the last place CR should be seeking advice from corruption. Solis’s wife has associations with the UN. AND Solis is to friendly with the USA. That is ingredients for disaster for CR. The CR has already been sold to the European banks. CR is already doomed. Like Greece, Cyprus, Stockton, Ca., etc.

      • SDPUS

        The Obama administration is one of the least corrupt administrations the USA has had for a very long time. I personally believe President Solis fits that same mold, and is a genuine person. I don’t believe it is valid to paint everyone as corrupt, but make no doubt, when corruption reaches the point that it is institutionalized- it is very difficult to overcome. Obama had this very problem early on. He had 8 years to change the direction, and he effectively did just that. Unfortunately President Solis is in a similar situation now, and even more unfortunate, he doesn’t have 8 years to change the direction. He needs outside help…

        • SDPUS

          Put a few of the corrupt leaders in jail here, just as Guatemala has recently done, and you will see change in how political leaders operate. And I personally don’t believe Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, etc. will be able to avoid what they have done forever. I believe their day of reckoning will eventually come.

          • SDPUS

            And for anyone who wonders just how entrenched the PLN corruption is, just consider this: http://primeroennoticias.com/2015/08/29/tribunal-supremo-de-elecciones-habilita-a-jorge-chavarria-carrillo/

          • SDPUS

            The PLN is predicted to win 71 out of the 80 or so mayoral elections: http://www.nacion.com/nacional/politica/Johnny-Araya-PLN-San-Jose_0_1510049055.html

          • dr meno

            NWO Takeover of Costa Rica. All The Signs Are There, 20 of them.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzuNlRoxIQc

          • zzzzz

            sadly, it is probably only bureaucracy that can effectuate change. I mean access to information, accountability and scope of influence to name a few. Things like that are all bureaucratically defined processes. Corruption is something that is so deeply entrenched that there is little you can do to scare people from it.
            For example a uniform VAT and reporting system can reduce tax fraud appreciably.
            Government institutions bleed money through budget misappropriation more than any other source.
            Do you think jail time is a deterrent to the Mafia?
            In many places, removing death squads is a good start

          • SDPUS

            I agree with much of that. And yes, I do think prison is a detterent, but where institutions are weak and corrupt– they certainly will take advantage. And that is the very reason I think this type of institution should also be implemented in Costa Rica.

          • zzzzz

            In a system where bribery is prevalent, it sets the tone for all others to do the same and before long everyone dances to that tune. I think humans are hardwired for that kind of thing and you can’t really change that specifically but rather it is part of a complex social structure not a simple cause and
            effect like punish bad behavior. Look at the war on drugs in the US as an
            example. What did putting all those people in jail do to change behavior? [in case you are scratching your head, the answer is it made things worse]

            Law and order is the cornerstone of a functional society but
            setting that up is complex and procedural and if jail alone were a deterrent then
            there would be no crime. The fact is that people need to believe in the system for it to work and fighting corruption is not about a law or two and the few
            bullshit examples that are set, it’s about infrastructure, process and society.
            One would be hard pressed to change the fact that corruption exists (and in
            every nook and cranny at that) but would have far more success in targeting the cost to society by means of traceable bureaucratic accountability for money. Open transparency and competition is part and parcel of that.

            But ok, go put your guys in jail and more power to you I am all for that.

          • SDPUS

            Very well articulated. Prisons are more of a front to combat crime. The serious individuals who cause most of societies problems rarely go. Prisons are full of drug users. Seldom do any of the big fish ever go down. Legislators are fully aware of this.The drug war is the perfect example. If they were regulated, instead of criminalized, society would be very different. 40+ years of criminalization has destroyed our framework. We have wasted trillions of dollars that could have been much better spent. No one enjoys living in a police state, but in essence, that is exactly what we all have. A trillion dollars since 1980 could have had much greater impacts if it were reallocated long ago.

        • wsurfs .

          YOU have got to be kidding….Obama is lawless…!!

        • dr meno

          SDPUS, you are so wring. Obama has set himself as a dictator. He will cancel th e2016 elections. He already has the Executive Orders in place. All is needed to kick martial law in full force is a simple term, INTERNATIONAL TENSIONS.

          He has put in more EO’s than any other president. He also has the EO’s from th east presidents to implement. All setting up for the collapse of t heUSA. Why do yo think I am down here with my family.

          My proof follows with these videos.

          2016 Elections Could Cancel Under EO’s and Martial Law. Got Passports?

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok-imfFQ-00

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7XOwNtUWjU

          Stealing your GOLD Will Be Like Taking Candy From a Baby, Gold Confiscation Coming Next.

          • Canamjay

            you are just profoundly ill ..good thing you’re out of US…

    • wsurfs .

      Politicians are exempt from impunity….don’t you know that by now?

  • dr meno

    OMG, Where are the UN when it comes to the USA war criminals. Why are they not join garter Bush, Obama, Cheney, Wolfowitz, ETC. Un needed to stop that corruption because they were not getting their VIG on the drug trafficking through Central America. The UN needs to be dis banned and have those guys put in jail too for war crimes. You can also blame them for the immigration issues in the EU.

    • wsurfs .

      I will add Obama to that list..!

  • Ken Morris

    I’ve been looking for something like this for Nicaragua.

    However, it does seem a chicken and egg problem. In order get such an international law agency to operate with any authority, there probably has to be support for it inside the country. To respond to dr meno, this would never work for the US, since the US would just refuse to recognize the authority of the international body. (The US has done this before.) Odds are it wouldn’t work in Nicaragua for the same reason. There’s probably a better chance of something like this working in Costa Rica, though.

    Unfortunately, the article uses the passive voice to tell us how this got started in Guatemala: “CICIG . . . was established in 2006 to strengthen the
    country’s weak judicial institutions in the fight against corruption and
    organized crime.” I’d be interested in learning more precisely how it was established, since this seems the real obstacle.

  • wsurfs .

    IF Guatemala can send their president to prison, the United States of America can send it’s lawless “so-called president” to prison…!!!

    • Canamjay

      flash to you wsurfs: W is no longer prez, so good idea, but maybe a bit late?

      • wsurfs .

        Flash back to you…SHUT UP…!! YOU and I BOTH know we’re talking about Obama…you remember…the domestic terrorist…YES…that one…..!!!

  • Roberto

    At least some of the corruption in the US gets investigated and prosecuted. Whatever happened to the major scandal and corruption in Costa Rica known as “La Trocha?” After 3.5 years, 42 persons under investigation and doubts about the $32,000,000 spent….what?

    (CNN)The nation’s premier federal program that provides work for people who are severely disabled is mired in widespread corruption, financial fraud and violations of the law, numerous sources tell CNN. And instead of helping the severely disabled find work, the taxpayer-funded agency is at times allowing jobs to be taken away from the disabled, the sources say.

    AbilityOne, along with the nonprofit agency that manages its program for the severely disabled, SourceAmerica, are being investigated by authorities for illegal operations, financial fraud, mismanagement, operating in violation of the law, steering of contracts, and possibly obstruction of justice. Several inside sources tell CNN the program is among the worst cases of its type they’ve ever seen in a federal agency.

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