The National Commission against Corruption (CNC) began to follow up public complaints for the granting of licenses for fishing or tuna capture after citations to officials that emerged in the Congress of the Republic.
Regarding the consultation if it has been investigated and what they detected, the CNC replied that, by legal mandate, they cannot investigate these facts, and explained that within the executive body, they are the institutions themselves, through the instances of probity issues and their control bodies, who are developing administrative investigations, but said that it can provide the necessary accompaniment.
Expansion of information regarding accusations that arose towards both roads were requested, that is, against the former Vice Minister of Agricultural Health and Regulations, Marissa Montepeque as well as against the Minister of Agriculture, Maynor Estrada and other officials but the commission has not responded.
However, he explained that he carried out actions within his competence, requesting the Ministry to inform the measures taken in this regard.
He added that, as part of the actions of the CNC, a document was issued and presented to the Ministry with the proposals for prevention actions aimed at strengthening internal controls and transparency in the procedures carried out by the Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture Regulations (Dipesca), and it was added that said instrument aims to transparent the processes related to this area.
CNC proposes review of administrative files that allowed the granting of current licenses
In the aforementioned document, the CNC refers that in recent years, opacity risks have been detected in certain processes, such as the granting of licenses and the management of sanctioning files, which expose the institution to vulnerabilities that can lead to corrupt practices and poor administration.
He adds that the lack of transparency in the update of files and in the publication of key information has generated difficulties for citizen control and the audit of Dipesca actions. This vacuum reduces public trust in the institution and limits access to the necessary information to monitor compliance with regulations in the sector, therefore, the Commission refers that it becomes essential to establish measures that guarantee the dissemination of timely data on the processes of licenses and sanctions.
“The lack of transparency actions has allowed discretion spaces in the granting of fishing licenses, as well as in the control of sanctioning files,” is added in the document. With this, he adds, it has fallen into situations where licenses are granted without adequate dissemination, the sanctioning files remain are not managed, limit the effective inspection of the actors in the sector and create uncertainty about the legality of the institutions of the institution.
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The proposal “has a preventive approach” to strengthen the control and supervision of fishing activities, and are aimed at strengthening the transparency of dipesca actions, in key areas such as:
- The review of administrative files that allowed the granting of current licenses;
- Development and implementation of integral monitoring system:
- Strengthening of the inspection process and the sanctioning regime;
- Transparency of actions;
- Development of awareness actions;
- Elaboration and distribution of good practices manual;
- And, promotion of citizen participation.
CNC says that in the face of vulnerabilities, the proposals seek to alleviate the degrees of discretion that currently exist and provide technical elements for adequate management.
10 actions implemented by the magician
On Friday night, February 28, the CNC and the MAGA issued a joint statement where they indicate that transparent processes management is carried out and attached to the General Law of Fishing and Aquaculture, and list 10 actions that the Ministry has implemented for the review and granting of licenses for capturing tuna and fishing in general, and that include an internal planning process and with accompaniment of the commission:
- On November 4, 2024, CNC delivered the aforementioned document of “proposals for prevention actions aimed at strengthening internal controls and transparency in the procedures carried out by the dipesca.”
- Collects of sanctions have been made for breach of article 75 of the General Law of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the years from 2021 to 2024, a management that had not been carried out previously.
- No license extension was granted to a concessionaire for breach of the General Law of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the respective contract.
- The return was requested to the Guatemala chapter of the cellar volume capacity, given as loan to the Republic of Panama and used by a concessionaire.
- He moved and rotated personal, seeking the efficiency and transparency that the Dipsca service performs.
- The review process began to determine the origin to unsubscribe to licenses for breach of some dealers.
- The Probity Unit was created, through Ministerial Agreement 101-2024, in August 2024, which aims to implement and execute the technical actions and guidelines on ethics and probity.
- In 2025 the governance tables for the dissemination and implementation of the Vedas calendar in the Guatemalan Caribbean have been worked.
- We worked at the shrimp governance tables in the Guatemalan Pacific, with the shrimp boat limit.
- The audit made by the National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was approved, to export shrimp to the US.
It was added that the Maga through its internal control bodies and the Probity Unit, will execute the necessary actions to identify opportunities for institutional strengthening and detect possible irregularities, apply transparency measures and if it is the case to present the complaints before the competent instances.
Context
The controversy due to the granting of licenses was disclosed in October in citations of the Congress, and resurfaced this month, after February 25, the Maga reported that the then Vice Minister of Agricultural Health and Regulations, Marissa Montepeque Sierra resigned by personal aspects, and its retreat became effective on February 24.
Guatemala is assigned a quota for tuna capture of 9,400 cubic meters. The Maga, through the Directorate of Fishing and Aquaculture Regulations (Dipsca), had seven dealers for capture in the Pacific and two for the Atlantic, with its proper vessels, according to data from October 2024.
However, parliamentarians question from those dates, that of all the vessels to which they have been granted for years, none has a flag of Guatemalan nationality, so they transfer the product to other countries and some have not complied with four product deliveries per year in Guatemala. It was publicly denounced that even former president Alejandro Giammattei exonerated them from the payment of several fines, days before leaving office.
After the deadline for one of these vessels, the Maga decided not to renew it, and that week the minister confirmed that the new license will be granted to the Sant Diego Uno boat, of Central American Atunera Industry, for a quota of 1,900 cubic meters, indicating that this Spanish capital company already operates in Guatemala and has made various investments.
In Congress during the month, deputies of you, they questioned the case again, indicating that the exviceminist was hindering the granting of the license and favoring other companies. Meanwhile, the controversy was revived after the resignation of Montepeque, since the next day a document circulated where the former official towards the Minister, other Magic officials, parliamentarians and executives of the aforementioned company.
Montepeque did not respond to information requests to verify if she had issued the document and the accusations, while Estrada said she would not pronounce because it was an apocryphal document, and said that on Thursday the exviceminist told her that she had not participated in the elaboration of said document.
The minister said he had asked the CNC to investigate the issue of licenses, and the CNC said he can accompany but each entity must do administrative investigations through its probity unit. The Commission no longer responded to the application for extension of information made.