GUATEMALA Country Profile

Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives

  • Legislation: Guatemala has ratified the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in November 2006 and the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption in July 2001, but has not yet implemented all of its provisions, such as criminalising illicit enrichment. However, fraud, extortion and bribery are addressed by the Penal Code (in Spanish) Articles 442 (active corruption and bribery of foreign officials), 439 and 440 (passive corruption), 447 (using public resources for private gain), and 251 (extortion). The passing of a strong anti-money laundering legislation in 2001 has been seen as a positive step by observers. The constitution provides for all the acts of the administration to be made public, but a law on access to information was not passed until September 2008, after almost a decade of discussions. The law provides for all documents regarding the amount of public funding, the way those are administered, and in some cases even the salaries of public employees to be made accessible to the citizens upon request. The law also includes penalties for public officers denying access to those documents. The government provides web-based information about public services, decisions, budget and expenditures, but this service has been criticised for permitting selective disclosure. Public oversight is furthermore hampered by the fact that few citizens have Internet access. Access the Lexadin World Law Guide for a collection of legislation in Guatemala.

  • Government Strategies: An increasing number of public initiatives addressing corruption have been launched by the Guatemalan administrations since 2000 under the National Programme for Global Transparency. Under the current administration, anti-corruption initiatives have primarily been headed by Vice President, Rafael Espada. In December 2008, he launched a National Campaign against Corruption to raise awareness about the problem, and to inform the public that the abuse of public funds by government officials will not be tolerated by the government. Another recent initiative was the implementation of the Integrated Financial Management System (SIAF) which, according to the World Bank, contributed to efficiency in financial transactions and the production of timely and transparent information on most government finances. Although the number of initiatives indicates a growing political interest in fighting corruption, the established agencies have also been criticised for the lack of coordination between strategies and for being under political influence. The relevant entities addressing corruption are listed below.

  • Anti-Corruption Agencies: Established by the Alfonso Portillo administration (2000-2004), both the National Commission for Transparency and the District Attorney's Office have been set up within the National Program for Global Transparency to address corruption and act on denunciation. However, according to Global Integrity 2006, the commission and District Attorney lacks qualified staff, does not publish regular reports and is occasionally subject to political interference. Another initiative of the Portillo government was the Commission for Fighting Corruption in the Justice Sector, the mandate of which is to formulate policies and strategies that increase transparency and combat corruption in the judicial system. One of the objectives of the commission is to raise awareness among officials in the judicial system about corruption.

  • Commission for Transparency and Anti-Corruption: Based on the electoral promises from late 2007, the Colom administration created the inter-institutional Comisión de Transparencia y Anticorruption in February 2008. The new Commission is headed by Vice President Rafael Espada in conjunction with the Minister of Labour, the Minister of Special Affairs and the Project Coordinator of TI's Guatemalan chapter, Acción Ciudadana. The commission has been preparing an action plan which has not yet been published. However, it has been publicly announced that its main goals will be to enhance transparency and fight corruption within the executive branch and to reform the executive's Code of Ethics. Other goals will be to coordinate anti-corruption policies with the Comptroller General's Office to prevent embezzlement of public funds and to create an instrument to which corruption can be reported. The latter part, a reporting mechanism, has been established on the website of the Vice President. However, there are no reports on the number of cases received or on user satisfaction.

  • International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG): Congress created the CICIG in August 2007. The CICIG will examine the extent of corruption, violence and organised crime within public institutions, political parties and the civil society. The CICIG was jointly proposed by the United Nations and the government with the aim of strengthening public institutions and fighting the culture of impunity. CICIG is allowed by its mandate to conduct independent investigations and help authorities bring representative cases to trial in national courts.

  • Comptroller General's Office: The Contraloría General de Cuentas (in Spanish) is the national supreme audit institution for the entire public sector, charged with overseeing proper use of public resources. Previously, the Comptroller General's Office had been a target of corruption and money laundering, and some observers argue that it is under-funded and equipped with limited staff that are not adequately educated. Political appointments are also said to occur. However, despite these alleged deficiencies, the Comptroller General has demonstrated improved functionality and in 2004, it released a report identifying budget anomalies in 56 public institutions.

  • National Human Rights Ombudsman: The Human Rights Ombudsman, or the Procurador de Derechos Humanos (PDH, in Spanish), covers the entire nation and is guaranteed freedom of action through the constitution. In law, it is an independent institution protected from political interference, but in practice it is sometimes not provided with the information needed to carry out its investigations. The functions of the Human Rights Ombudsman are to investigate, denunciate and promote administrative or judicial actions with regards to human rights violations committed in Guatemala. However, it is not mandated to cover corruption cases.

  • E-Governance: Until recently, e-governance has not been well-developed in Guatemala, which means that direct contact points between front-line public officials and companies was hard to avoid when operating in Guatemala. However, this situation has improved in recent years within some areas of the public administration. For instance, the Berger administration sought to improve transparency in public procurement and contracting by establishing Guatecompras (in Spanish), a web portal where companies may find information and download application forms related to procurement opportunities. In November 2006, the Superintendent of Tax Administration (SAT, in Spanish) launched a customs modernisation programme that implemented an advanced electronic system, e-SAT (in Spanish), which provides useful information, legislation and e-registration related to moving goods through customs. Since 2004, the government has operated the Invest in Guatemala website, where foreign investors can find detailed information about business opportunities and guidance about how to obtain the necessary licences and permits to operate in the country.

  • Public Procurement: Some observers report that enforcement of the Ley de Contrataciones del Estado (in Spanish, Law on Public Procurement and Contracting) is inadequate and that other relevant laws regulating public procurement procedures are ambiguous. Unsuccessful bidders are not able to instigate an official review of procurement decisions but may take cases to court. However, considering the inefficiency of the Guatemalan judicial system, this is not always in the interest of companies. The government has tried to curb corruption in public procurement and contracting by establishing Guatecompras (in Spanish), an internet-based electronic procurement system, which provides companies with all necessary information related to procurement opportunities. Computerisation of public procurement is intended to reduce the number of direct contact points between public officials and companies, thus reducing the opportunities to solicit bribes in return for contracts. Guatecompras is cited by Acción Ciudadana as one of the strengths of the public procurement regime in Guatemala. Since March 2004, it has been mandatory for Guatemalan government entities to use Guatrecompras. According to the Procurement Law, most government purchases over USD 118,000 are required to be submitted to competitive bidding. On the website a blacklist is published of companies engaging in irregularities while bidding for public contracts.

  • Whistle-Blowing: Articles 439 and 442 of the Penal Code provide protection for persons reporting corruption. However, whistleblower protection is considered by Global Integrity 2006 to be very weak, partly due to the fact that whistleblowers in practice are not protected from negative consequences of reporting corruption, e.g. retaliation. Furthermore, the law does not provide any specific protection to public or private sector whistleblowers. No specific internal mechanism (i.e. hotline, local office or e-mail) exists where civil servants can report cases of corruption. The Comptroller General has a reporting mechanism (in Spanish) on its website where citizens can report cases of corruption related to the misuse of public funds. The Vice President's office also created a reporting mechanism on its website in 2008, to which citizens and public officials can report cases of corruption. Reporting cases of corruption to the Vice President cannot be done anonymously.

  • General Comments on the Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives: The Álvaro Colom administration - much like the former administration - faces an uphill struggle in the fight against corruption. Apart from the assassination allegations against the President in May 2009, Colom's intentions to curb corruption and improve the business climate in Guatemala have suffered from corruption scandals in 2007 and 2008. Also structural problems within the political system are likely to impede Colom from pursuing reforms. In fact, the political deadlock in Congress currently limits the emergence of any efficient and full-scale campaign. Progress is slow, and only a few of the public initiatives have proven effective in the fight against corruption in Guatemala. The gap between the law and its application is perceived as widening. Efforts to strengthen the institutions that exercise the judicial, political and administrative powers have been undermined by the lack of resources and skilled personnel, apart from the lack of career development and reward of performance. The proliferation of institutions with similar mandate and the lack of coordination between the different entities established to fight corruption in Guatemala is a major challenge for the future success of anti-corruption efforts.