Guatemala responds to Gustavo Petro and calls its ambassador in Colombia for consultation

The government of Guatemala reported this Tuesday that he decided to call the ambassador of the Central American country in ColombiaReagan Vega, in “reciprocity” to the decision of the president of the South American nation, Gustavo Petro.

The decision was disclosed by the Government of the Guatemalan president, Alejandro Giammattei, through a press release in which he “rejects the outburst” of Colombia.

LOOK: Diplomatic crisis between Colombia and Guatemala: Petro warns of consequences for the case of his Defense Minister

The call of Petro to consult your ambassador in Guatemala took place this Monday after the Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office) of the Central American country warned that it intends to prosecute the Colombian Defense Minister, Ivan Velasquezfor his role at the head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (cicig) between 2013 and 2017.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets that the Government of Colombia make a legal issue political, making abrupt decisions without following the corresponding diplomatic steps,” the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry stressed in the statement, recalling the “almost” 200 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

POSSIBLE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION

The Public Ministry of Guatemala indicated on Monday that it will take legal action against Velasquezwhom he accuses of allegedly manipulating cooperation agreements in the case of corruption in the Central American country of the construction company odebrecht.

The accusation against Velásquez was made by the Guatemalan prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche within the corruption case that links the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht and for which three new arrest warrants were requested on Monday against former officials of the Prosecutor’s Office and Cicig.

“The Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity will take legal action to hold the former Cicig commissioner Iván Velásquez accountable for his illegal and abusive acts.”assured Curruchiche during an official message.

Also, curruchiche He issued the same warning to the Colombian lawyer Luz Camargo Garzón, who served as an investigator of corruption structures in Guatemala.

Velásquez, 67, was head of Cicig in Guatemala between 2013 and 2017, a period during which he carried out a historic fight against corruption in which dozens of illegal structures operating within government institutions were dismantled.

Curruchiche was sanctioned in 2022 by the United States with the withdrawal of his visa and the prohibition to enter its territory because, according to the Joe Biden Government, the prosecutor has created false cases to make spurious accusations.

For his part, Petro said on Tuesday that relations with Guatemala will be affected if that country’s Prosecutor’s Office insists on taking action against Velásquez.

“We will defend him, he will continue to be our minister and if Guatemala insists on arresting just men, well, we have nothing to do with Guatemala,” the president told Colombian media upon his arrival in Zurich.

Source: Elcomercio

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