On 14 January, Rafael Espada stepped into office as vice president of Guatemala, alongside Alvaro Colom Caballeros, the new president and leader of the social-democratic party National Union of Hope (UNE). The UNE party won the closely run 2007 presidential election on 9 September with 52.7 percent of the votes, making it Guatemala's first left-wing government in 53 years. Transparency Watch was able to catch up with Espada to ask him about the fight against corruption in Guatemala and the region, and how the new government plans to counter the problem.

Transparency Watch (TW): How relevant is the fight against corruption in Guatemala, taking into account the poverty and inequality levels in your country?

Rafael Espada (RE): We are conscious that corruption is a phenomenon that reduces the resources needed by the state and its institutions to address the needs of the people. State resources are already very limited In Guatemala, so in order to make public expenditure more efficient we need to focus on its quality. One example of how we can work towards achieving this is by enforcing the fiscal agreements already in place.

Our government is firmly committed to combating corruption and is intent on establishing a dedicated institution to tackle corruption issues. It is clear to us that corruption condemns the most vulnerable part of the population to poverty, and, at the same time, hinders the State from successfully promoting both domestic and foreign investment, which are crucial for generating jobs and economic development.

The anti-corruption efforts to date are not enough. They have lacked coordination and for this reason they have had a minimal impact on the high levels of corruption still prevalent.

TW: What results do you expect to achieve in the country regarding the fight against corruption? What are your strategies?

RE: We are the first political party to win an election with transparency and anti-corruption being a specific electoral promise. In line with our government agenda, we have made efforts during the governmental handover period to ensure that from the very first day in office we could implement the necessary preventive, legislative and control measures, necessary to having a real impact on reducing corruption levels.

Our main goal is to create a solid and strong institution that coordinates, promotes and executes a national transparency plan. This institution could be a Secretary for Transparency in the public administration, or a similar body, to create which we will need support from Congress.

We will be proactive in drafting laws and regulations to create the necessary conditions to sanction and prevent corrupt practices. One of our first concrete actions will be to send to Congress a law proposal on access to information - classifying all crimes present in international anti-corruption conventions, such as the illicit enrichment and money laundering.

Our government will have a very strong social focus, overhauling all expenditure and public investment structures to eliminate political clientelism and corruption, which siphon off resources meant for poor people into private pockets. We will open all possible channels to promote the condemning of corruption and strengthen the internal control mechanisms, as well as ethical and preventive regulations.

TW: The first anniversary of the Guatemala Declaration for a Corruption Free Region took place on 15 November 2007. The declaration confirms that the fight against corruption has to be tackled from a regional level as well. How will your government contribute to making the Central America region free of this problem?

RE: Many of our problems require regional solutions. For example, security issues and organised crime need to be confronted together with neighbouring countries, such as Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico. As the roots of these problems promote corruption in the institutions responsible for security in our countries, it is very important to have a regional approach to combating corruption. We will utilise all the cooperation mechanisms available (e.g. United Nations Convention against Corruption and Inter-American Convention against Corruption) to be more effective in investigating and prosecuting corruption crimes and asset recovery, among other issues.

The Guatemala Declaration includes 14 measures which our government will enact and promote. Our goal is to become a leader in this area and promote the strengthening of the follow-up mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the commitments stated in the declaration.