Guatemala has a new attorney general after the appointment of Gabriel García Luna to direct the investigative entity in the period 2026-2030. The official expanded details of what his work will be.
This election was part of the second-degree elections in Guatemala, where a Nomination Commission formed a list of six candidates, from which President Bernardo Arévalo made the election.
García Luna replaces Consuelo Porras, who headed the Public Ministry (MP) for eight years.
The new attorney general has proposed a management approach focused on transparency, modernization and attention to victims.
Below are some of the relevant points from the interview with the official. The interview took place in his office in the MP.
- Regarding the fact that the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) will undergo a restructuring, The prosecutor indicated that, if it were a brand, one of the main objectives is to regain the trust of the population, and the brand is not seen in a good way; unfortunately, due to decisions that have been made in cases that I would still have to review personally.
- Regarding the fact that Rafael Curruchiche has shown interest in meeting with him, The official indicated: “I have not heard it, but I think that first we have to see what situation the prosecutor’s office is in. I think that whoever directs it should be held accountable.”
- To the question of how he sees the Public Ministry and if he considers that the illicit networks have advanced and entered the investigating entity, and impunity is sought from within, García Luna indicated: “My analysis is purely procedural and within that the investigative analysis. And I do think that in many criminal phenomena important results are not being achieved, and where mainly a lot of profits are generated, such as extortion, drug trafficking and money laundering of different actors; it can be corruption of the State. The message is: ‘I have that one and that one is going to fix the nail’. And surely there are people who come and say: ‘Ah, I am a friend of that prosecutor’ or ‘I put that prosecutor prosecutor’”.
- Regarding the agenda of crimes on which his management will focusGarcía Luna stated that there is quite strong organized crime and corruption crimes, and that not everything can be stopped, but we can focus on some with more attention. “There are things that belong to all the prosecutor’s offices. The capacity for investigation and litigation belongs to all the prosecutor’s offices,” he stated.
- Regarding how you evaluate the handling of criminal cases within the MP, The prosecutor indicated: “This phenomenon of so many dismissals is not normal, only because of quantitative accreditations. So I can have 100% of cases resolved because I dismissed them, but there was no justice in any of them. In some percentage it was the dismissal that was appropriate, but there may be participation and, depending on the crime, a criterion of opportunity or a conciliation, because there was some conflict.”
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