Sputnik V: the Russian anticovid vaccines that have the former minister of Guatemala in trouble

He government of Guatemala criminally denounced a former Minister of Health this Thursday for the controversial purchase of vaccines Russian anticovid in 2021 during the president's administration Alejandro Giammatteiwho faced criticism of possible corruption over the acquisition.

The complaint was filed in a court in the capital against former minister Amelia Floreswho signed a confidential contract with the company Human Vaccine, a subsidiary of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the attorney general (state lawyer), Julio Saavedra, said at a press conference.

The official specified that Guatemala paid almost 80 million dollars for the purchase of eight million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. and gave almost $800,000 as an advance.

The former official was denounced for the alleged crimes of abuse of authority, breach of duties and embezzlement of funds and “reveals a corrupt, opaque contracting that must be investigated,” said Saavedra.

“In difficult and bitter moments like the covid pandemic, where the entire Guatemalan society was under the siege of a terrible disease that we did not know about and that we did not understand, The corrupt in Guatemala saw the opportunity to benefit with impunity,” said President Bernardo Arévalo..

The original order for Russian vaccines was for 16 million doses, but the Giammattei government and the selling firm agreed that only half of the order would be fulfilled due to the delay in deliveries that provoked harsh criticism and even accusations of corruption against Giammattei.

Saavedra indicated that the complaint does not cover the former president, because he does not appear in the signing of the contract, but he hopes that the Prosecutor's Office also investigates “the people who may have participated in the execution of the contract.”

Flores resigned in September 2021 after more than a year in office at a time when the country was facing high numbers of Covid-19 infections and persistent criticism of his management.

The pandemic, which led Giammattei to decree states of exception and close the borders, left 1.2 million cases of covid-19 and 20,290 dead, according to official figures.