Maria Consuelo PorrasAttorney General of Guatemala, was appointed most corrupt person of 2023 OCCRP Global Network: Corruption and Organized Crime Reporting Project.

Bernardo Arevalo de Leon, 65, will take office on January 14 after months of prosecution by the Justice Department, which has tried in various ways to overturn the election results. elections held this year in Guatemala.

However, Porras acted as an effective tool for the government to destroy the rule of lawas he oversaw efforts to prevent the elected president from taking office, including the suspension of his political party and a raid of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

Arevalo called it “a coup d’état in slow motion.” The maneuvers by Porras and his government allies have plunged Central America’s most populous country into a political crisis, with protesters taking to the streets and blocking one of the main access roads to Guatemala’s capital.

“Porras defends what in Guatemala they call “Pact of the Corrupt”which involves corrupt businessmen and politicians, members of organized crime and some retired generals,” he said. Maria Teresa RonderosDirector of the Latin American Center for Investigative Reporting (CLIP) and one of the judges for the OCCRP Person of the Year Award.

“He brutally persecuted honest prosecutors, journalists and activists.which will drive them into exile and deprive the public of the necessary control they will exercise regarding abuses of power,” he added.

The OCCRP jury explained that the decision to name Porras this year’s most corrupt person was based on the fact that she defended the right-wing political elite, who made his fortune through widespread corruption and connections to drug cartels. These powerful officials and businessmen were involved in large-scale drug trafficking, human trafficking, and extorting bribes from foreign companies.

“Porras’ mission was to ensure that Guatemala’s corrupt leaders remained in power.”

In 2022, the US government imposed sanctions against Porras, stating that he “repeatedly obstructed and undermined investigations into corruption in Guatemala in order to protect your political allies and gain undue political favor.”