La Linea

Comedian Jimmy Morales will become Guatemala's new president Thursday. The country's pressing problems -- poverty, corruption and violence -- aren't funny.

In the end, Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández de López surprised everyone.

Despite the candidate's large margin of victory, the election was marked by apathy -- only 56 of registered voters cast ballots, according to preliminary results announced Monday.

GUATEMALA CITY – After being on the run for six months, Juan Carlos Monzón – one of the top leaders of a massive customs fraud scheme that brought down Guatemala’s president, vice president and dozens of others – has finally turned himself in.

Manuel Baldizón's exit leaves a former first lady to face off against a comedian who made his name playing a simpleton who almost becomes president.

Speaking from the Matamoros army barracks in Guatemala City where he is currently being held, Otto Pérez Molina told CNN en Español’s Fernando del Rincón that he is innocent of any wrongdoing and that the U.S. government used CICIG to oust him from power and further its geopolitical interests in the region.

"The signs of fraud are blatantly obvious," said conservative candidate Manuel Baldizón, who four days after the vote is still locked in a neck-and-neck race for runner-up with former First Lady Sandra Torres of the social democratic party. Electoral tribunal chief Julio Solorzano dismissed the allegation.

Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez ordered Guatemala ex-President Otto Pérez Molina held in custody until his Dec. 21 trial for illicit association, customs fraud and bribery. The Tico Times takes you inside the Guatemala City courtroom where it happened.

GUATEMALA CITY – A Guatemalan court indicted former President Otto Pérez Molina on corruption charges Tuesday, days after he resigned over a customs fraud scandal that has stoked outrage in the Central American country. Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez granted prosecutors' request to try Pérez Molina on charges of customs fraud, racketeering and bribery. He then ordered the former president held in preventive prison pending an investigation, calling the retired general a "flight risk."

Each Saturday for five straight months, Guatemalans gathered in the capital's Plaza de la Constitución to demand the resignation of then-President Otto Pérez Molina, accused of being the mastermind behind a massive customs fraud mafia known as "La Línea." Citizens of all stripes across Guatemala joined in the demonstrations in their own cities and villages. Here's a look at that dramatic, tenacious and peaceful protest movement that since April has been inspiring the world.