The Biden administration targeted two former Guatemalan officials, including former President Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla, with punitive measures on Wednesday over allegations of corruption.
UPI
Jan. 17 (UPI) — The Biden administration targeted two former Guatemalan officials, including former President Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla, with punitive measures on Wednesday over allegations of corruption.
Giammattei was barred from entry to the United States by Biden’s State Department while former Ministry of Energy and Mining Alberto Pimentel Mata was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury, blocking all property in his name and preventing U.S. persons from doing business with him.
The Biden administration says fighting corruption has been a core national security interest as it targets what it deems a root cause of migrants and refugees fleeing their countries for refuge in the United States.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Giammattei was being made ineligible for entry over his involvement in “significant corruption.”
“The State Department has credible information indicating that Giammattei accepted bribes in exchange for the performance of his public functions during his tenure as president of Guatemala, actions that undermined the rule of law and government transparency,” Miller said in a statement.
The Treasury separately sanctioned Pimental on allegations of accepting large bribes in exchange for permits and licenses for a private company operating in the energy and mining sector of Guatemala.
