Dionisio Gutiérrez Met with Former High-Ranking Officials from the United States Government

Latin America - español

España - español

News provided by

Jul 11, 2019, 15:00 ET

GUATEMALA CITY, July 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Dionisio Gutiérrez met in Guatemala with four former officials from the security agencies of the United States government, who are currently members of various global organizations, dedicated to crisis solution and transnational security, in coordination with agencies and organizations of important governments in the western hemisphere.

Dionisio Gutiérrez Met with Former High-Ranking Officials from the United States Government

The group of specialists was lead by James Milford, expert in global security and former deputy administrator of the DEA in Washington; DC Page, Director of V2 Global and former senior official of the Department of Homeland Security; Larry Holifield, intelligence and operations expert against criminal organizations that threaten the United States security and former attaché for the DEA in charge of Colombia, Central America, and Mexico; and Leslie Alessandra, who, a month ago, was the senior official expert of the FBI for Latin America in corruption, money laundering and drug trafficking.

Fundación Libertad y Desarrollo (Liberty and Development Foundation) organized the forum: "Guatemala: A Threat to Hemispheric Security" where the four guests conveyed their concern for the significant progress that organized crime has had in the cooptation of public institutions and political parties, to the extent of bringing Guatemala to the brink of becoming a narcostate.

Dionisio Gutiérrez explained that "75 percent of the presidential campaigns have been financed by corruption and drug trafficking in the last 12 years; therefore, it is important to push an agenda with the support of public institutions, civil society and the private sector to ensure that drug trafficking and politics do not team up."

The guests emphasized that the key to deal with this problem is for citizens and especially the elites of the country to become seriously involved in the process of an institutional reform and in the training and professionalization of security forces and the justice system.

Gutiérrez concluded the event assuring that "the U.S. agencies can collaborate with the transfer of resources and training for national entities, but that the main responsibility of the battle against drug trafficking and organized crime belongs to public institutions in Guatemala."

You may watch the report dedicated to the event in the program, Razón de Estado.

SOURCE Fundación Libertad y Desarrollo