President Otto Pérez Molina’s future is in the hands of five congressmen after the Supreme Court gave the legislature the green light to decide whether he should be stripped of his prosecutorial immunity so that he can be tried for corruption charges.
GUATEMALA CITY – In the wake of two major corruption scandals that have led to seven consecutive weeks of anti-corruption demonstrations, a new poll in the run-up to general elections in September shows right-wing populist Manuel Baldizón still leading. But his popularity has stagnated due to a widespread perception that his administration is likely to be as corrupt as that of current President Otto Pérez Molina’s.
For the fifth consecutive week, protesters gathered in front of the presidential palace on Saturday to demand Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina’s resignation after his administration was tainted by yet another corruption scandal.
Guatemala's embattled President Otto Pérez Molina fired three ministers and his spy chief Thursday, seeking to get a grip on a deepening corruption scandal that already claimed his vice president.
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.
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.
