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The US government, through the Department of Justice, launched this Friday an anti-corruption information line on corrupt activities in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador that are somehow linked to the North American country.
In a message spread via Twitter, the Justice Department shares an email address - combatiendocorrupcion@fbi.gov - so that all those who have information about criminal activities linked to corruption can get in touch.
“We hope that honest governments in Latin America will trust our assistance and work with us against corruption - in particular against narco-corruption. It will be for the benefit of those same countries and those same Governments and their populations. So I think there is no conflict between us doing this kind of work and having good relations with the region,” says Merrick Garland, the U.S. Attorney General, in a video shared on Twitter.
His statement came in line with former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez's investigation of drug trafficking charges before a New York court, who was extradited yesterday from his country and will remain in detention until the next hearing scheduled on May 10, said Judge Stewart D. Aaron.
Wearing the same blue jacket he wore the day before when he was extradited from Tegucigalpa, Hernández heard the charges read by the magistrate through a video screen from the prison where he is being held in White Plains, New York State, since his arrival early Friday.
The beginning of the trial against the former president of Honduras was scheduled this Friday for May 10 at 11:00 in the morning by the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Southern New York, Stewart D. Aaron.
In Guatemala, the US sanctioned Attorney General Consuelo Porras last September for “obstructing” justice, with the removal of her visa and the ban on entering its territory.
The decision of the US Department of States came two months after Porras removed anti-corruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval, currently in exile in the US country and who was investigating an alleged case of bribery against Giammattei, in July 2021. Sandoval conducted a historic anti-corruption fight in Guatemala between 2014 and 2020 that accused more than 200 officials and members of the business elite.
On April 13, the international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) assured that Porras's mandate has been “a disgrace to the rule of law” in the Central American country.
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