From the streets to the courts, these nations are resisting a pushback from the political elite against recent anti-corruption gains. When Iván Velásquez, head of the U.N.-backed anti-corruption body in Guatemala, traveled to the U.S. in September, he didn’t know he wouldn’t be returning to the Central American country. While away, he learned he would be denied re-entry by the government of President Jimmy Morales. But if Morales had hoped for a simple walkover with the ban, he was mistaken. Protests erupted on the streets, and within days, a constitutional court ordered Morales to allow Velásquez to return. Morales’ government has so far refused to accept the court’s verdict, but the chain of events is the latest example of a new pattern appearing across Central America. Faced with growing anti-corruption prosecutions against political leaders, led by anti-graft bodies and proactive attorney generals, corrupt elites in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are closing ranks. They’re shutting down or limiting the work of these bodies and individuals who were challenging their rule. But many in these countries now have a taste for what prosecution against corrupt leaders can look like — and they’re unwilling to give up without a fight. | 