Guatemala, December 9, 2009.  The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernández-Taranco, is visiting Guatemala City and meeting with representatives of the three branches of Government, civil society, political parties and non-governmental organizations. The main purpose of his visit to the country is to express support for CICIG’s work in its new two-year period that began in September upon the renewal of its mandate. 

In the meeting that was held at the Presidential House, the President of the Republic, Álvaro Colom, explained that the meeting was focused on the issues of justice, the need for resources for the coming year, especially to strengthen the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Justice System, and the importance of providing more staff support to CICIG. 

Assistant Secretary-General Fernández-Taranco stated that he would hold conversations not only with the international community but also with international and United Nations System organizations on how to complement certain activities that are being carried out by CICIG, particularly in the areas of training and strengthening national Justice System institutions. He also advised that the manner of implementation for the security and justice agreement, which was approved several months ago, should be reviewed in order to identify short, medium and long-term priorities with the participation of cooperating agencies and institutions. All of the recommendations were given with the view to strengthen state institutions and achieve the exercise of effective, transparent and prompt justice. 

"I wish to stress that operational assistance is already in place. CICIG, in these two years, has done an outstanding job that I believe has been well documented. In this first official visit, I have had the opportunity to better understand what the different mechanisms are as well as the achievements and challenges. One of these is how to succeed in establishing coordination and ensure that all members of civil society, the Government, the international community and the United Nations System can work together in a coordinated and unified manner in the fight against impunity," explained the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General.

In a meeting held inside Congress, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General of Political Affairs assured the President of the Congress of the Republic, Roberto Alejos, that Guatemala and CICIG’s work are being followed closely by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Member States. He added that at the specific request of the Security Council and the General Assembly, the United Nations took part in a preparatory mission for the establishment of an investigation commission in Guinea, "and it is very interesting to know that among the examples that were being explored- in terms of the composition of missions, mandates, types of agreements- of the commissions assisting in the fight against impunity and for justice, Guatemala occupies an important place in the discussions being held in United Nations Headquarters in New York. We would like to share with you how proud the Secretary-General and all my colleagues in the Department of Political Affairs are of CICIG’s and the results it has achieved."