On Thursday morning, President Otto Pérez Molina's defiance disintegrated as his spokesman announced that the president had stepped down after all, according to the Wall Street Journal and AFP. The spokesman said Pérez Molina was stepping down to deal "individually with the proceedings against him," reported AFP.
GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemalan Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchú sees the unprecedented protests calling for the ouster of President Otto Pérez Molina as a historic moment for a country long torn by violence, poverty and inequality.
Guatemala's chief public prosecutor said Wednesday she is confident embattled President Otto Pérez Molina will be convicted of corruption, as the country's top court rejected a legal challenge by the president's attorneys to the stripping of his immunity.
The conservative president has faced mounting calls for his resignation since U.N. investigators accused him of running a massive fraud scheme at the national customs service, a scandal that has already felled his former vice president and caused nearly half his Cabinet to resign.
A special congressional commission on Saturday recommended the removal of Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina's immunity from criminal prosecution due to his alleged involvement in a massive customs fraud case that has brought the administration to the brink of collapse.
Telecom tycoon Mario López Estrada “is the most powerful actor that could have supported [Otto Pérez Molina] at the moment,” Nómada Director Martín Rodríguez tells The Tico Times. “That’s why he refuses to step down and is being so confrontational.” Meanwhile, Guatemalans call for a boycott of Tigo. And the plot thickens...
Even some fast-food restaurants joined in Thursday's nationwide protests held to demand President Otto Pérez Molina's resignation. "All our restaurants will remain closed. We are joining in the change reshaping our country," said a message posted to the Twitter account of McDonald's Guatemala.
GUATEMALA CITY – Former Vice President Roxana Baldetti was formally charged with illicit association, customs fraud and bribery on Tuesday, just days after she was arrested for allegedly helping mastermind a massive customs fraud network known as “La Línea” in tandem with Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina.
GUATEMALA CITY – In a pre-recorded message broadcast to the nation last night, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina refused to step down in the face of growing evidence of his likely involvement in a massive customs fraud network known as “La Línea.”
