GUATEMALA TO RECEIVE ON-SITE VISIT OF THE OAS ANTI-CORRUPTION MECHANISM

With the consent of Guatemala, a Commission from the OAS Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC), will conduct an on-site visit to that country on April 16 – 18, 2013, as part of the review process that the Mechanism is carrying out, in accordance with the Methodology for Conducting On-Site Visits adopted by its member states.

The Commission will be made up of the representatives from St. Kitts and Nevis and Suriname to the MESICIC, as well as from the Department of Legal Cooperation of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs of the OAS, in its capacity as the Technical Secretariat of the MESICIC. It will meet with representatives from the newly created Presidential Commission for Transparency and Electronic Government (COPRET), the Public Ministry, Comptroller General of Accounts, and the Judicial Branch, among others, in order to obtain objective and complete information and reveal potential difficulties in the implementation of the Inter-American Convention. It will also provide an opportunity to facilitate the obtaining of information related to best practices, and provide Guatemala the opportunity to benefit from or to request technical assistance.   

In addition, it is also expected that meetings will take place with Guatemalan civil society organizations, as well as with representatives from the private sector, professional associations and academics, in order to address the topics that are currently being reviewed in the Fourth Round of this Mechanism. It will also provide an opportunity to address the implementation of the recommendations formulated in the First Round, such as conflicts of interest, sworn statements of net worth and access to public information.  

The information received during the visit will complement the response provided by Guatemala (available at: http://www.oas.org/juridico/spanish/mesicic4_gtm_sp.htm) and will serve for the preparation, consideration and adoption of the country report by the MESICIC Committee of Experts in its plenary meeting to be held in September of this year.  

The MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between States, with the participation of civil society organizations, established within the framework of the OAS, in which the legal/institutional framework of each country is reviewed for suitability with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption as well as the objective results achieved therein.