"I apologise for my crimes, take responsibility for them, and accept the consequences of my actions" - Alfonso Portillo

Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo admitted in a New York City courtroom that he accepted $2.5 million in bribes from Taiwan in exchange for his country's continued recognition of the island in its ongoing dispute with China. He'll receive somewhere between four and six years in prison for this

Portillo said he "knew at the time that what I was doing was wrong". He had campaigned on a promise to fight corruption and impunity in Guatemala.

"I apologise for my crimes, take responsibility for them, and accept the consequences of my actions," he told the federal court in New York.

He said the money was moved through US banks and admitted that he knew "these transactions were designed, in part, to conceal and disguise the source and ownership of the money".

Otto Perez Molina claims that these "open secret[s]" are a thing of the past and that relations with Taiwan and donations from them are more transparent. We shall see. While they did happen fourteen years ago, it is not clear when the bribes stopped - Berger? Colom? I can't say that Portillo's guilty plea is making former Salvadoran President Francisco Flores feel comfortable right now.

It's bad for democracy and for the people of Guatemala and El Salvador that their leaders have taken bribes from Taiwan in return for continued diplomatic recognition. On the other hand, if that's all that they are being accused of I guess it feels like a bit of a letdown. What I guess I am more concern with now is an investigation into the Guatemalan judicial process that found Portillo not guilty. What, if any, shady transactions went on to ensure his release?

In other criminal extradition news, Waldemar Lorenzana has now joined Portillo in the United States. Lorenzana was arrested in Guatemala in 2011 and his extradition to the US was approved in 2012. Lorenzana allegedly was involved in drug trafficking along the border with El Salvador and Honduras. He also has ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.

Steven Dudley explains why Lorenzana is known as the "Patriarch."

Lorenzana was called the patriarch for many reasons. In addition to his drug trafficking activities he was a patron to numerous local and national politicians. These politicians would repay him by getting his companies lucrative public works contracts. The contracts were another stream of income for the family and gave the Lorenzanas a way to launder their proceeds.

The family also has large tracts of land where they employ hundreds of people. At Christmas, they give out gifts to kids and bags of food to their parents.

Their largesse made them hard to capture. On at least two occasions, Guatemalan and US authorities were unable to get past the throngs of protesters who had been called to the streets because of Lorenzana family members' imminent arrests.