Something's working in Guatemala?

Steven Dudley has an article at Insight that is worth checking out (Guatemala Arrests Show Something is Working). It details some of the recent successes that the Colom administration has achieved in the recent fight against organized crime in Guatemala - the arrests of Zetas, three suspects in the murder of Facundo Cabral, and three suspects in the San Jose Pinula murders.


Claudia Paz y Paz, the attorney general appointed in December 2010, is credited with much of the recent success. However, Dudley rightfully questions whether a Perez Molina administration will keep her on as AG.

Torres is already lagging in the polls behind a former military officer, Otto Perez Molina, whose possible connections to human rights abuses during the war and current political connections make it clear that he would remove Paz y Paz as soon as he took office.

But no matter what happens to the current attorney general, in her short time in office Paz y Paz has shown Guatemalans that change is possible, and that there are dedicated and determined officials in the Public Ministry. In other words, she has been a ray of light in a dark situation.

I wonder whether the potential backlash from removing Paz y Paz from her position will prevent Perez from replacing her, at least immediately. He might instead obstruct re-prioritize the office's mission so that it focuses on contemporary crimes rather than civil war-era crimes or crimes committed by military and former military officers.

This might be a good time for the US ambassador and others to highlight the important work that Paz y Paz and her office have achieved. They might also issue a statement that any attempt to weaken the office following the September 2011 elections would be seen in a very negative light and might result in a reduction of aid and/or some sort of punishment.