The US will deny entry to the ex-president of Guatemala

The State Department said Wednesday that Alejandro Giammattei, Guatemala's president until a tumultuous transfer of power this week, was denied entry to the United States because of information indicating he had accepted bribes.

The announcement indicated that the United States was taking swift action to support the anti-corruption drive led by Guatemala's new President Bernardo Arévalo. Guatemala was recently engulfed by protests over efforts to prevent Mr. Arévalo from taking office, and Mr. Giammattei refused to appear at his successor's inauguration on Monday.

'No one, and certainly no civil servant, is above the law' said Brian Nichols, the State Department's top official for the Western Hemisphere.

The Ministry of Finance also announced sanctions on Wednesday in return for Alberto Pimentel Mata, a former energy minister in Mr. Giammattei's government, in connection with Mr. Pimentel Mata's bribe-taking and his involvement in numerous corruption schemes involving government contracts and permits, officials said.

Over the weekend, U.S. Customs and Border Protection denied one of Mr. Giammattei's sons entry to Miami and deported him on Monday. according to to Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah and supporter of Mr. Giammattei.

Taken together, these moves reflect how the U.S. government is trying to curb corruption and impunity in Guatemala, Central America's most populous country.

While Mr. Giammattei was president, an alliance of prosecutors, judges, members of Congress and other political figures retaliated against officials involved in a landmark United Nations-backed anti-corruption initiative from 2020 to 2024.

“The State Department has credible information indicating that Giammattei accepted bribes in exchange for the performance of his public functions during his term as president,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement.

The former president is now “generally ineligible” to enter the United States, Mr. Miller added, although he did not provide specific information about the bribes Mr. Giammattei was accused of accepting.

The former president could not immediately be reached for comment.

Reports of Mr. Giammattei's involvement in corruption schemes have circulated in Guatemala for years. In 2021, prosecutors opened an investigation into claims that Russian citizens paid bribes to Mr. Giammattei in connection with a mining project, after an anti-corruption prosecutor obtained testimony from a witness who said he went to Mr. Giammattei's home and had delivered a roll. carpet filled with cash.

During his time in office, Mr. Giammattei denied that he had been bribed in connection with the Russian project.

Investigations into these claims did not yield much progress in Guatemala's opaque legal system. In the cash-filled carpet case, the prosecutor who investigated the case was fired and forced into exile in the United States.

Mr. Giammattei's appointment to the State Department comes amid other U.S. efforts to counter illegal activities by political leaders in Central America. The United States extradited Juan Orlando Hernández, a former president of Honduras, in 2022 to face drug trafficking charges in New York.

Mr. Giammattei, who embraces staunchly conservative policies, is seen as an ally of some political figures in the United States, such as Mr. Lee and Richard Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany during the Trump administration, who visited Guatemala last week in a show of support for Mr Giammattei.

The United States has announced this sanctions last month against Miguel Martínez, one of Mr. Giammattei's closest associates, moreover visa restrictions targets nearly 300 Guatemalan citizens, including more than 100 members of Congress, for their efforts to weaken Mr. Arévalo and prevent him from being inaugurated.

Former presidents in Central America typically gain immunity from prosecution in the region by being sworn in as members of the Central American parliament. But that immunity does not extend to the American legal system or to involvement in violating American laws. Mr Giammattei entered the Central American parliament shortly after the end of his term of office.

Jody Garcia contributed reporting from Guatemala City.