Cross-border justice

When justice comes from abroad: United States sanctions under section 7031(c), OFAC lists, federal trials in Miami, extradition requests, Interpol notices and asylum cases. We explain the weight of each measure, what counts as a conviction and what is only an administrative sanction.

Emilio Lozoya: from the arrest in Málaga to six years without a verdict, the case file that extradition did not resolve

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Emilio Lozoya

Emilio Lozoya ran Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) between 2012 and 2016 and is the main figure named in the Odebrecht case in Mexico. He is also the clearest example that an extradition does not guarantee a conviction. Spanish police arrested him in Málaga in February 2020 and Mexico received him in July that year. Since then, … Read more about Emilio Lozoya: from the arrest in Málaga to six years without a verdict, the case file that extradition did not resolve

Jorge Glas: the prisoner who pitted Ecuador against Mexico and Colombia, from the raided embassy to the Inter-American Court

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Jorge Glas

Jorge Glas was Vice President of Ecuador between 2013 and 2017. He is the highest-ranking official convicted over the Odebrecht case in his country. He holds two final convictions and a third, of 13 years, pending appeal. However, his case file became an international affair on the night of 5 April 2024. Hours after Mexico … Read more about Jorge Glas: the prisoner who pitted Ecuador against Mexico and Colombia, from the raided embassy to the Inter-American Court

Rafael Correa: the final sentence Ecuador cannot enforce, the trial suspended over a kidnapping and life in Belgium

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Rafael Correa

Rafael Correa governed Ecuador between 2007 and 2017 and has lived in Belgium since leaving power. He is the only former president in the region with a final corruption conviction that no State has managed to enforce. The National Court of Justice sentenced him in absentia to eight years for bribery in April 2020. Belgium, … Read more about Rafael Correa: the final sentence Ecuador cannot enforce, the trial suspended over a kidnapping and life in Belgium

Manuel Baldizón: the candidate the United States convicted in 21 months and whom Guatemala failed to try in six years

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Manuel Baldizón

Manuel Baldizón was twice a presidential candidate in Guatemala, in 2011 and 2015, for the Líder party. His is the clearest case in this series of the asymmetry between foreign and national justice. In the United States he pleaded guilty to money laundering and served 21 months in a Georgia prison. He then returned deported. … Read more about Manuel Baldizón: the candidate the United States convicted in 21 months and whom Guatemala failed to try in six years

Juan Carlos Varela: the former president the United States punished for corruption and whom Panama still cannot bring to trial

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Juan Carlos Varela

Juan Carlos Varela was Vice President of Panama between 2009 and 2014 and President between 2014 and 2019. Together with Ricardo Martinelli, he is one of the two former Panamanian presidents reached by the Odebrecht scandal. However, his case file has an asymmetry that this piece walks through. The US State Department barred him from … Read more about Juan Carlos Varela: the former president the United States punished for corruption and whom Panama still cannot bring to trial

Carlos Pólit: the comptroller a US jury convicted and whom Ecuador has been unable to extradite or collect from in eight years

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Carlos Pólit

Carlos Pólit was Ecuador’s Comptroller General between 2007 and 2017. He is the Ecuadorian with the harshest sentence in the Odebrecht case, but his own country did not hand it down. A federal court in Miami sentenced him to ten years in prison in October 2024. Ecuador had convicted him earlier, in 2018 and in … Read more about Carlos Pólit: the comptroller a US jury convicted and whom Ecuador has been unable to extradite or collect from in eight years

Alejandro Sinibaldi: the fugitive who crossed three countries, the United States designation and the five cases Guatemala has been unable to try

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Alejandro Sinibaldi

Alejandro Sinibaldi was Guatemala’s Minister of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing from 2012 to 2014 and a presidential pre-candidate in 2015. He is the Guatemalan official with the most corruption cases investigated in the last decade: at least five schemes, Odebrecht among them. His case file is also a journey across borders. He fled in July … Read more about Alejandro Sinibaldi: the fugitive who crossed three countries, the United States designation and the five cases Guatemala has been unable to try

Alejandro Toledo: the former president the United States did hand over, the two extradition extensions and the only case in the series with a final sentence being served

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Alejandro Toledo

Alejandro Toledo governed Peru from 2001 to 2006. Of the three former Peruvian presidents investigated over Odebrecht, he is the only one with final convictions that he is serving in prison. His case is also the only one in this series in which international cooperation worked from start to finish. The United States extradited him … Read more about Alejandro Toledo: the former president the United States did hand over, the two extradition extensions and the only case in the series with a final sentence being served