The heads of the Guatemalan Central Bank and social security administration were arrested Wednesday on corruption charges, prosecutors said. The case comes on top of a separate scandal over a customs bribery ring, which forced former Vice President Roxana Baldetti to resign earlier this month.
A persistent drizzle turned into a downpour by the end of the afternoon but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the thousands of Guatemalans who took to the streets on Saturday to demand the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina.
In a country where a recent history of repressive military rule has instilled a deep fear of political activism in many Guatemalans, observers have labeled the youth-led citizen movement that's taken to the streets and social media to demand an end to government corruption a “Guatemalan spring.”
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina announced Friday that his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, was resigning after one of her top aides was accused of participating in a customs bribery ring.
Throughout this whirlwind of a book about a whirlwind of a life, Cohen teaches the reader about bananas, Central American politics and history, and the Banana King’s role in the turbulent politics of Honduras and Guatemala in particular.
Last week Guatemalan and international prosecutors announced they had issued arrest warrants for 22 people allegedly involved in a criminal network that took bribes in exchange for reduced customs duties, making millions off the foregone government revenue. Among those arrested were the current and former heads of Guatemala’s tax administration, the president of national newspaper SigloXXI and Baldetti’s private secretary, Juan Carlos Monzón.
Up until now Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina has repeatedly expressed doubts about allowing the crime-fighting commission to continue working in the country, saying it had completed its mission but hadn't achieved important accomplishments. The president's decision to extend the commission's work comes as a major tax fraud scandal unfolds involving high-level officials.
In 1992 Aura Elena Farfán founded Famdegua, a Guatemalan organization that supports families in their search for loved ones who were killed or disappeared during the country's brutal civil war. She's still active.
Among those arrested were the current and former heads of Guatemala's tax collection agency, and the president of Guatemalan daily Siglo21. A warrant was issued for the private secretary of Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti, but he was reportedly outside of the country.
