NewsThe Guatemalan Constitutional Court [official website, in Spanish] on Wednesday withdrew [text, in Spanish] the foreign ministry’s [official website, in Spanish] warning to the head of the UN International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) [official Website], Iván Velásquez.
The foreign ministry had granted Velásquez a one-year renewal on his visa but warned [WP report] him to “refrain from interfering in the internal affairs.” The purpose of the CICIG is to “investigate illegal security groups and clandestine security organizations in Guatemala.”
The Constitutional Court ruled that the visa renewal could not be used to restrict a diplomat’s work. Earlier this year, the court also blocked an attempt by Guatemala’s president to expel Velásquez from the country.
The CICIG helped expel the previous Guatemalan president from office two years ago. In June 2016, the former president Otto Pérez Molina, former vice president Roxana Baldetti, and 70 other officials were charged [JURIST report] with various corruption and money laundering charges.
