Corruption persists in Guatemala despite the change of government: Claudia Paz y Paz warns about the current situation.

Corruption continues to be prevalent in Guatemala despite the change of government. Claudia Paz y Paz, former Attorney General of Guatemala and current director of the Center for Justice and International Law, has denounced in an interview with DW that the current Attorney General of Guatemala continues to criminalize journalists, teachers, judges, and prosecutors. According to Paz y Paz, the Constitutional Court remains a stronghold of this network in favor of impunity and corruption in the Central American country. During her tenure as Attorney General of Guatemala between 2010 and 2013, Claudia Paz y Paz managed to bring former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt to trial on charges of genocide, demonstrating her commitment to justice and the fight against impunity in the country. Currently, Paz y Paz is on a tour of Europe along with Miguel Ángel Gálvez, the judge in the famous "La Línea" case, in which high-ranking officials of the government of Otto Pérez Molina and Roxana Baldetti were involved. During this advocacy tour, Paz y Paz has urged the European Union to pay attention to the process of electing the High Courts of Guatemala, which will take place soon. According to the former prosecutor, the courts in Guatemala continue to be co-opted and it is crucial that this election process be carried out in a transparent manner and free of corrupt influences. The European Union already imposed targeted sanctions on five officials of the Guatemalan government in February 204 for "actions undermining democracy and the rule of law." The prosecutor Consuelo Porras leads this list of sanctioned individuals. Claudia Paz y Paz requests that these sanctions be extended, as she believes that figures like Porras are hindering the democratic functioning of the country. Paz y Paz has emphasized that corruption in Guatemala is linked to drug trafficking and that the country's economic elite has benefited from public works contracts and agreements of impunity. The former prosecutor stresses that the situation in Guatemala has repercussions beyond its borders, as the country is a transit point for drugs to the United States and Europe, the largest consumers of narcotics. Amidst this situation of corruption and impunity, Claudia Paz y Paz calls on the international community and the forces that enabled the change of government in January in Guatemala to continue paying attention to the country's situation. According to the former prosecutor, a synergy between the positive forces of the European Union and those of Guatemala is crucial to achieve significant progress in the fight against corruption and impunity in the Central American nation.