Guatemalan authorities declared an orange alert on Thursday due to increased activity at the Fuego volcano, located 35 kilometers from the capital. The volcano is spewing ash and pyroclastic material.

Fuego, considered the most active volcano in Central America, was the site of a deadly avalanche in 2018 that wiped out a community, leaving 215 people dead and a similar number missing.

“The institutional orange alert has been declared due to the eruption of the Fuego volcano that began on Wednesday night,” said Juan Laureano, spokesperson for the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), which oversees civil protection.

He explained that communication is being maintained with local mayors and departmental governors to coordinate prevention and response measures. Although no evacuations have been ordered so far, nearby villages are experiencing ashfall.

“We’re identifying potential shelters that could be opened to protect affected residents,” Laureano added.

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According to the Institute of Volcanology, the volcano is emitting plumes of gas and ash that reach up to 5,000 metersin height, while pyroclastic flows are moving down its slopes.

Prior to this increase in activity, the volcano had shown “normal parameters” with weak to moderate explosions since its last eruption in March, which led to the temporary evacuation of about 1,000 people.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro criticized Guatemala’s controversial prosecutor’s office on Tuesday, which is responsible for an investigation that led to an arrest warrant against his former Defense Minister and the Colombian Attorney General on charges of alleged corruption.

On Monday, a Guatemalan court ordered the arrest of former minister Iván Velásquez and Attorney Luz Adriana Camargo, both former members of the UN anti-mafia commission in Guatemala, according to the country’s prosecutor’s office.

The Colombian officials are accused of corruption in favor of the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

On the social network X, Petro compared the Guatemalan prosecutor’s office to others in the region that, according to him, “obey crime, not the citizens.” He added, “The multinational drug trafficking organizations try to take over judicial powers and governments to carry out and launder their hidden businesses with impunity.”

Velásquez served as head of the now-disbanded International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) from 2013 to 2019, while Camargo was the head of investigation and litigation at the entity from 2014 to 2017. Both enjoy immunity as the commission was sponsored by the UN.

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Camargo said in a press conference that the arrest warrant “lacks legal basis and represents a risk to cooperation between countries and international organizations in the fight against impunity, corruption, and organized crime.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated on Tuesday that Colombian lawyers Luz Adriana Camargo and Iván Velásquez, against whom Guatemala’s judiciary has issued arrest warrants, enjoy immunity related to their roles in the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).

“(Guterres) reiterates that the international staff of the Commission, by virtue of the agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Guatemala, enjoys immunity from judicial proceedings regarding acts performed in the course of their mission,” said Guterres’ spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric during his daily press briefing.

Dujarric emphasized that this immunity continues even after their work with the Commission has ended, and reminded that the Guatemalan government committed to protecting the Commission’s personnel “from abuse, threats, retaliation, or acts of intimidation.”

He also conveyed that Guterres expressed concern about numerous reports indicating that those who sought to shed light on corruption cases and work to strengthen the rule of law and the justice system in Guatemala are being criminally prosecuted.