In late 2015, Guatemala was rocked by a series of high-level corruption scandals that ultimately led to the resignation and arrest of its president, Otto Pérez Molina.
The anticorruption investigations that upended the political order were supported by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala—known by its Spanish-language acronym CICIG.
A new report from the Open Society Justice Initiative, Against the Odds: CICIG in Guatemala, tells the story of the UN-backed institution: from its controversial, convoluted founding through its struggles, to its part in the revelations that ignited last year’s mass protests and eventually brought down the president.
Representatives of Guatemala, the UN, and CICIG will join the report’s author, Patrick Gavigan, as we discuss CICG’s record, its future, and the lessons to be learned for the region and the world.
Speakers
- Omar Castañeda Solares is minister counsellor at Guatemala’s Permanent Mission to the UN.
- Martha Doggett is director of the Americas Division for the UN Department of Political Affairs.
- Arturo Aguilar is a political officer for the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala.
- Patrick Gavigan is the author of Against the Odds.
- James Goldston (moderator) is the executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative.
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