EL TIPO DE CAMBIO DE HOY ES DE: Roberto Arzú’s Breakfast with the Cartel: Guatemala’s Leading Narco-Backed Presidential Bid
An endless trail of business bankruptcies, million-dollar debts, addictions, betrayals, and narco-money he allegedly used to finance his 2019 political campaign. That is the résumé of Roberto Arzú García-Granados (RAGG).
Son of former president Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen, Roberto insists on presenting himself as a crusader—someone “different from the corrupt,” who promises to enforce the law and rescue the nation.
The facts tell another story: multi-million-dollar debts tied to drug traffickers, compromising audio recordings, public deeds, and alliances that erase the line between political ambition and narco-power. República verified every document, every deed, every audio. Nothing is a rumor. Nothing is speculation.
What they show is uncomfortable for him: RAGG has no scruples when it comes to getting what he wants. His constant need for money led him to promise payment using his father’s inheritance—an inheritance he ultimately lost.
More than corruption, his life intersects directly with organized crime. This is evidenced by his audio recordings begging for money from a drug-trafficking boss, “Paco” Domínguez, and by the one million dollars he borrowed—and never repaid—from an operator of Marllory Chacón, who was convicted in the United States for laundering cartel money.
From Political Heir to Candidate Under Suspicion
RAGG was born in 1970, the eldest son of former president Arzú. He grew up in a privileged family, with businesses and a passion for sports—but every business venture he has attempted has failed. Academically, he did not even complete a high school diploma.
His only public function was as an ad honorem “special ambassador” in 2017, appointed by Jimmy Morales—a position he used to raise money for his presidential campaign. He resigned in 2018 to enter electoral politics, shortly after his father’s death, an event that fractured the family and left him at odds with his siblings, who denied him use of the Unionista legacy. Since then, Roberto has devoted himself to being the eternal candidate, resorting to whatever is necessary: questionable alliances, opaque financiers, and empty promises.
In 2019, he announced his first presidential bid. Without Unionista support, he attempted to revive the PAN alongside Podemos—the successor of Movimiento Reformador, linked to formally charged former minister of Communications Alejandro Sinibaldi. The PAN-Podemos alliance collected recycled figures from PP and Líder, both dissolved for corruption. On June 16, 2019, Roberto obtained just 6.08% of the votes, finishing in fifth place.
Amid defeat, he faced an international scandal: strategist JJ Rendón sued him in the U.S. for breach of contract. A court ordered him to pay USD 6 million, revealing conversations in which Arzú promised that “Hugo” would cover the debt—“Hugo” being Hugo Sigman, Argentine pharmaceutical tycoon.
Sigman founded Distrifarma in Guatemala in 2016, whose legal representative—initially—was one of Roberto’s sons. Although RAGG denies receiving money, Rendón insists Sigman was a financier. Also involved was Fabián Ranucci, Sigman’s partner and campaign director.
This international financing—unreported to the electoral authority (TSE), as the law prohibits it—adds to audit findings: undeclared contributions, GTQ 558,000 in unbanked cash income, missing receipt books, and unreported billboard expenses. In 2019 and 2023, Podemos was fined over USD 100,000, nearly leading to its cancellation.
Roberto tries to present himself as a successful businessman, but reality says otherwise: he is not a significant shareholder in the companies he claims. He sold everything to pay debts—and still remained indebted. In 2018, to obtain USD 1 million from a trafficker, he went so far as to offer his hereditary rights in his father’s estate as collateral. He promised to repay with his inheritance — but never did. That episode defines him: a man willing to sacrifice even his family name to sustain his political ambition.
Audio Recordings, Public Deeds, and the Shadow of Narco-Power
Nothing has shaped Roberto Arzú’s narrative in 2025 more than the leaked audios following the murder of Francisco “Paco” Domínguez, ringleader of “Los Caradura,” a structure linked to drug dealing, contract killings, and human trafficking in Guatemala City. Domínguez was assassinated on June 25, 2025, in Zone 10, in a settling of scores that exposed a macabre plot. The recordings capture Arzú begging for more money, offering advertising contracts, and referencing deals with major television networks to promote brothels such as Pasiones, Exxesos, Madonas, 2 Cielos, Tropical Party, El Bunker, La Azotea, and Bajo Cero.
One audio captures him pleading:
“Paco, we’ll sign a contract to pay everything… I beg you.”
Says Roberto in a desperate tone.
Another states:
“Brother, give me a chance, I’ll follow through. I have agreements with the TV channels to place advertising.”
he tells him, trying to convince alias Paco to give him more money, even though Paco is demanding repayment of the previous loan, pointing out his failure to comply and the documents he handed over, which no one recognizes as a valid debt.
Public deeds from March 2019 confirm debts of USD 700,000 and GTQ 4 million to Domínguez, secured with shares of IHOP Guatemala. The notary who authorized the documents, Dora Reneé Cruz Navas, disappeared four months later, on July 17, 2019. An Isabel Claudina alert remains active. Her whereabouts are unknown, and the worst is feared.
Another deed from 2018 reveals a USD 1 million loan from Rodrigo Lainfiesta Rímola, which, according to sources, belonged to the fortune of Marllory Chacón, “La Reina del Sur” convicted in the U.S. for money laundering. Roberto confirmed the audios and deeds but downplays them as “from years ago.” Those years coincide directly with his presidential campaign. The money, aside from financing his lifestyle, presumably also served to fund his campaign.
RAGG defends himself with grandiose phrases, but the facts contradict him. He promises transparency, yet concealed his financiers. He swears he is honest, yet he mortgaged his inheritance and never paid. He presents himself as a victim, but the documents reveal him as a liar—someone who bends the truth whenever it suits him.
The 2025 Return: Populism and Dark Alliances
After being excluded from the 2023 race for early campaigning, Roberto alleged “fraud” and took his case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH). In 2025, the Commission recognized the violation of his political rights and signed a friendly settlement with the State, represented by now President Bernardo Arévalo. True to form, RAGG pretends to support the government while attacking the “enemies” of Movimiento Semilla, framing the ruling as a moral victory and reinforcing his narrative of a “righteous man betrayed by the system.”
Now he resurfaces in the party CABAL, which appointed him Secretary of Political Training. At the same executive table sits Julio Héctor Estrada, former Finance Minister, who resigned when Jimmy Morales expelled CICIG commissioner Iván Velásquez. Estrada attempts to project transparency and “political negotiation without illegal purposes,” but his presence in a party surrounded by questionable figures places him in a moral crossroads.
Arzú, in contrast, appears at home in that environment. His populist discourse promises “order and security,” yet the facts reveal a different story: narco-linked loans, international financiers, recycled political operators, and a strategy rooted in impunity.
RAGG carries heavy debts and a way of doing politics built on lies. He promises what he does not fulfill, exaggerates what he does not have, and hides what he should explain.
República verified each document, each deed, each audio. Nothing is a rumor. Nothing is speculation. The question is no longer whether Roberto surrounds himself with—and benefits from—criminal structures. The question is how many favors, silences, and hidden interests lie behind the millions sustaining his political project today.
It is no coincidence—nor an isolated event—that Roberto Arzú García-Granados joined CABAL, a party reminiscent of UCN under Mario Estrada, convicted in the U.S. for illicit financing from the Sinaloa cartel. Roberto’s entire political career has been fueled, in large part, by illicit money—just like Estrada’s.
All the debts he holds with past and current financiers, he intends to pay with public money if he reaches the presidency. Someone with such ties—whoever they may be—cannot become President of Guatemala. Rather than the presidency, Roberto appears far closer to prison, for potential illicit electoral financing, money laundering, and criminal conspiracy.
*República contacted Roberto Arzú García-Granados to respond to this investigation; he was given the opportunity and chose to evade the questions.
Instead, he demanded to answer only on his own terms and in a format equivalent to continuing his early campaign. By his own decision, his version could not be included.
Roberto Arzú’s Breakfast with the Cartel: Guatemala’s Leading Narco-Backed Presidential Bid
An endless trail of business bankruptcies, million-dollar debts, addictions, betrayals, and narco-money he allegedly used to finance his 2019 political campaign. That is the résumé of Roberto Arzú García-Granados (RAGG).
Son of former president Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen, Roberto insists on presenting himself as a crusader—someone “different from the corrupt,” who promises to enforce the law and rescue the nation.
The facts tell another story: multi-million-dollar debts tied to drug traffickers, compromising audio recordings, public deeds, and alliances that erase the line between political ambition and narco-power. República verified every document, every deed, every audio. Nothing is a rumor. Nothing is speculation.
What they show is uncomfortable for him: RAGG has no scruples when it comes to getting what he wants. His constant need for money led him to promise payment using his father’s inheritance—an inheritance he ultimately lost.
More than corruption, his life intersects directly with organized crime. This is evidenced by his audio recordings begging for money from a drug-trafficking boss, “Paco” Domínguez, and by the one million dollars he borrowed—and never repaid—from an operator of Marllory Chacón, who was convicted in the United States for laundering cartel money.
From Political Heir to Candidate Under Suspicion
RAGG was born in 1970, the eldest son of former president Arzú. He grew up in a privileged family, with businesses and a passion for sports—but every business venture he has attempted has failed. Academically, he did not even complete a high school diploma.
His only public function was as an ad honorem “special ambassador” in 2017, appointed by Jimmy Morales—a position he used to raise money for his presidential campaign. He resigned in 2018 to enter electoral politics, shortly after his father’s death, an event that fractured the family and left him at odds with his siblings, who denied him use of the Unionista legacy. Since then, Roberto has devoted himself to being the eternal candidate, resorting to whatever is necessary: questionable alliances, opaque financiers, and empty promises.
In 2019, he announced his first presidential bid. Without Unionista support, he attempted to revive the PAN alongside Podemos—the successor of Movimiento Reformador, linked to formally charged former minister of Communications Alejandro Sinibaldi. The PAN-Podemos alliance collected recycled figures from PP and Líder, both dissolved for corruption. On June 16, 2019, Roberto obtained just 6.08% of the votes, finishing in fifth place.
Amid defeat, he faced an international scandal: strategist JJ Rendón sued him in the U.S. for breach of contract. A court ordered him to pay USD 6 million, revealing conversations in which Arzú promised that “Hugo” would cover the debt—“Hugo” being Hugo Sigman, Argentine pharmaceutical tycoon.
Sigman founded Distrifarma in Guatemala in 2016, whose legal representative—initially—was one of Roberto’s sons. Although RAGG denies receiving money, Rendón insists Sigman was a financier. Also involved was Fabián Ranucci, Sigman’s partner and campaign director.
This international financing—unreported to the electoral authority (TSE), as the law prohibits it—adds to audit findings: undeclared contributions, GTQ 558,000 in unbanked cash income, missing receipt books, and unreported billboard expenses. In 2019 and 2023, Podemos was fined over USD 100,000, nearly leading to its cancellation.
Roberto tries to present himself as a successful businessman, but reality says otherwise: he is not a significant shareholder in the companies he claims. He sold everything to pay debts—and still remained indebted. In 2018, to obtain USD 1 million from a trafficker, he went so far as to offer his hereditary rights in his father’s estate as collateral. He promised to repay with his inheritance — but never did. That episode defines him: a man willing to sacrifice even his family name to sustain his political ambition.
Audio Recordings, Public Deeds, and the Shadow of Narco-Power
Nothing has shaped Roberto Arzú’s narrative in 2025 more than the leaked audios following the murder of Francisco “Paco” Domínguez, ringleader of “Los Caradura,” a structure linked to drug dealing, contract killings, and human trafficking in Guatemala City. Domínguez was assassinated on June 25, 2025, in Zone 10, in a settling of scores that exposed a macabre plot. The recordings capture Arzú begging for more money, offering advertising contracts, and referencing deals with major television networks to promote brothels such as Pasiones, Exxesos, Madonas, 2 Cielos, Tropical Party, El Bunker, La Azotea, and Bajo Cero.
One audio captures him pleading:
“Paco, we’ll sign a contract to pay everything… I beg you.”
Says Roberto in a desperate tone.
Another states:
“Brother, give me a chance, I’ll follow through. I have agreements with the TV channels to place advertising.”
he tells him, trying to convince alias Paco to give him more money, even though Paco is demanding repayment of the previous loan, pointing out his failure to comply and the documents he handed over, which no one recognizes as a valid debt.
Public deeds from March 2019 confirm debts of USD 700,000 and GTQ 4 million to Domínguez, secured with shares of IHOP Guatemala. The notary who authorized the documents, Dora Reneé Cruz Navas, disappeared four months later, on July 17, 2019. An Isabel Claudina alert remains active. Her whereabouts are unknown, and the worst is feared.
Another deed from 2018 reveals a USD 1 million loan from Rodrigo Lainfiesta Rímola, which, according to sources, belonged to the fortune of Marllory Chacón, “La Reina del Sur” convicted in the U.S. for money laundering. Roberto confirmed the audios and deeds but downplays them as “from years ago.” Those years coincide directly with his presidential campaign. The money, aside from financing his lifestyle, presumably also served to fund his campaign.
RAGG defends himself with grandiose phrases, but the facts contradict him. He promises transparency, yet concealed his financiers. He swears he is honest, yet he mortgaged his inheritance and never paid. He presents himself as a victim, but the documents reveal him as a liar—someone who bends the truth whenever it suits him.
The 2025 Return: Populism and Dark Alliances
After being excluded from the 2023 race for early campaigning, Roberto alleged “fraud” and took his case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH). In 2025, the Commission recognized the violation of his political rights and signed a friendly settlement with the State, represented by now President Bernardo Arévalo. True to form, RAGG pretends to support the government while attacking the “enemies” of Movimiento Semilla, framing the ruling as a moral victory and reinforcing his narrative of a “righteous man betrayed by the system.”
Now he resurfaces in the party CABAL, which appointed him Secretary of Political Training. At the same executive table sits Julio Héctor Estrada, former Finance Minister, who resigned when Jimmy Morales expelled CICIG commissioner Iván Velásquez. Estrada attempts to project transparency and “political negotiation without illegal purposes,” but his presence in a party surrounded by questionable figures places him in a moral crossroads.
Arzú, in contrast, appears at home in that environment. His populist discourse promises “order and security,” yet the facts reveal a different story: narco-linked loans, international financiers, recycled political operators, and a strategy rooted in impunity.
RAGG carries heavy debts and a way of doing politics built on lies. He promises what he does not fulfill, exaggerates what he does not have, and hides what he should explain.
República verified each document, each deed, each audio. Nothing is a rumor. Nothing is speculation. The question is no longer whether Roberto surrounds himself with—and benefits from—criminal structures. The question is how many favors, silences, and hidden interests lie behind the millions sustaining his political project today.
It is no coincidence—nor an isolated event—that Roberto Arzú García-Granados joined CABAL, a party reminiscent of UCN under Mario Estrada, convicted in the U.S. for illicit financing from the Sinaloa cartel. Roberto’s entire political career has been fueled, in large part, by illicit money—just like Estrada’s.
All the debts he holds with past and current financiers, he intends to pay with public money if he reaches the presidency. Someone with such ties—whoever they may be—cannot become President of Guatemala. Rather than the presidency, Roberto appears far closer to prison, for potential illicit electoral financing, money laundering, and criminal conspiracy.
*República contacted Roberto Arzú García-Granados to respond to this investigation; he was given the opportunity and chose to evade the questions.
Instead, he demanded to answer only on his own terms and in a format equivalent to continuing his early campaign. By his own decision, his version could not be included.
