A Guatemalan prosecutor ordered the arrest of Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and former Defense Minister Iván Velásquez on Monday, June 2. The Central American country also stated that it will request their extradition and is requesting Interpol to issue a red notice.
Attention: Guatemala has requested the arrest of Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and Ambassador Iván Velásquez. Rafael Curruchiche, Prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity, says he has requested the activation of an Interpol red notice. — Revista Semana (@RevistaSemana) June 2, 2025
The announcement was made by prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity. The judicial official stated that the investigation is part of the Odebrecht case and that the crimes they are accused of are"criminal association, obstruction of justice, influence peddling, and collusion."
"A court order has been issued to issue an alert to Interpol so that these individuals can be arrested in any country," he added.
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“The criminal structure headed by former CICIG commissioner Iván Velázquez Gómez favored businessmen from the construction company Odebrecht and caused the State of Guatemala to lose more than 3 billion quetzales. The Public Ministry reaffirms its commitment to fighting corruption and impunity in Guatemala, and to ensuring that everyone faces the full force of the law,” Curruchiche concluded.
"And now, the corrupt Guatemalan Attorney General and her prosecutor Curruchiche—designated as corrupt and sanctioned by the U.S. and the European Union—are extending their persecution against Luz Adriana Camargo and me. My solidarity with the former officials and so many Guatemalan citizens whom the Attorney General's office has forced into exile," Iván Velásquez responded to the decision.
And now, the corrupt Guatemalan Attorney General and her prosecutor Curruchiche - designated as corrupt and sanctioned by the US and the European Union - are extending their persecution against Luz Adriana Camargo and me. My solidarity with the former officials and so many Guatemalan citizens… https://t.co/dTJm0ZKnPD
— Iván Velásquez Gómez (@Ivan_Velasquez_) June 2, 2025
Velásquez's work in Guatemala has always been controversial there. The CICIG"is an independent international organization established by an agreement between the United Nations and the State of Guatemala in 2007, in response to the request for assistance made by the government of that country," as its description on the UN website states.
The organization was created on the basis that Guatemala's local justice system was infiltrated by illegal structures and could not be impartial. The work, led by Velásquez, raised eyebrows among the country's powerful, who were investigated and questioned for their methods. Ultimately, then-President Jimmy Morales, who had been targeted by the organization, decided to shut it down.
President Morales asserted that the organization had already fulfilled its objectives, after more than ten years of operating in that country, but above all, that it had strayed from its objective and, on the contrary, was"inducing individuals and institutions to participate in acts of corruption and impunity."
By that time, the commission's power was enormous, and it had already succeeded in overthrowing a president, Otto Pérez Molina, whom it had opened an investigation into for a customs fraud scheme, in a case known as La Línea.
But it's the Odebrecht case that has Velásquez in its sights. In an interview with Blu Radio in 2023, prosecutor Curruchiche explained that justice was after Velásquez because" there was an entire network to commit irregularities and crimes (in which) he directly intervened in all the meetings and was aware of everything that was happening."
The Guatemalan Attorney General's Office has said that the CICIG, in its supposed work investigating the Odebrecht network, actually signed preliminary agreements with former executives of the Brazilian company that sought to obscure the truth. The investigation is based on emails that, in the prosecutor's opinion, prove this.
In recent years, many have argued that the investigation into Velásquez is a reprisal for the work he did in the country during those years and for the injuries he stepped on.
