The Attorney General Consuelo Porras together with the heads of several prosecutors provided a press conference this Wednesday, April 30. The activity was accompanied by the Attorney General of El Salvador, Rodolfo Antonio Delgado Montes.
Porras in his speech highlighted the visit of the Salvadoran official and indicated that it is essential that justice institutions “can act freely and without foreign interference.”
“In Guatemala we are committed to the autonomy of the Public Ministry (MP), ensuring that our prosecutors work exclusively based on the law, without political, social and of any kind, according to the prosecutor.
He added: “I want to be clear at this point, any attempt at external interference in the work of the Public Ministry will not be tolerated, since justice cannot be kidnapped or manipulated.”
He said that the MP has its commitment to comply with the law, the independence of the justice system and the defense of victims’ rights.
“In the Public Ministry we do not get carried away by erroneous narratives, or by those who seek to obstruct justice or misinform the population. Our duty is clear, apply the law without distinction, without political pressures and with conviction,” he added.
According to Porras, who sought to hinder justice, “must assume the consequences of their actions.”
He stressed: “Any statement that tries Delegitimize our work and falsely point out an alleged persecution of indigenous peoples or human rights defenders, constitutes an unacceptable misrepresentation of reality. ”
“The Public Ministry does not criminalize, the Public Ministry investigates, does so based on legal evidence, evidence and procedures because no one is above the law. Institutionality cannot undergo pressures of any sector, or political power, or particular groups,” said the official.
The above indicated it after Tuesday, April 29 President Arévalo and ancestral authorities indicated that there is “criminalization” against indigenous peoples after the capture of Luis Pacheco, former director of the 48 cantons of Totonicapán.
Salvadoran prosecutor visit
Ángel Pineda, general secretary of the MP, highlighted the visit of the Salvadoran Attorney General, with whom they have held “productive” work meetings.
He said that the official’s visit reflects the shared commitment to strengthen the ties of cooperation and coordination between the public ministries of both countries.
He said that criminal investigation challenges do not recognize borders, so it is important to work articulated with other prosecutors to exchange experiences, good practices and mechanisms that allow an effective response to complex phenomena.
According to Pineda, public ministries and general prosecutors of each country “have constitutional and legal mandates, and must have the ability to exercise their functions with full independence, objectivity and without external pressures of any kind.”
“Institutional autonomy is not a privilege, it is an indispensable condition to ensure that the law is applied equally to all, without exceptions,” according to Pineda.
The Salvadoran attorney general in his speech indicated that as officials they are obliged to guarantee security for all inhabitants and in that sense they have had approach with the MP of Guatemala to guarantee the “justice, equality and security of our peoples.”
“We as public ministries of the region always act under the empire of the law, it is the law to whom we owe ourselves, many times our actions can be misunderstood, but they always seek to be fair and adequate according to legality, the principles of law,” according to the Salvadoran prosecutor.