Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina announced on Sunday that he has no plans to resign, despite accusations of corruption from the UN-backed worldwide Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) [official website] and widespread protests in the nation calling for his resignation. “I categorically reject any link (to the scandal)”.
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Perez Molina has faced mounting pressure to step down as his vice president and a series of cabinet members and aides were linked to different corruption cases.
Perez also took a swipe at sectors of the global community he said were “seeking to intervene” in Guatemalan democracy.
Working with the CICIG, Guatemala’s Attorney General Thelma Aldana had Baldetti arrested on August 21 and promptly sought the impeachment of Perez, a retired general who served in Guatemala’s bloody 1960-1996 Civil War.
Perez Molina, too, has denied involvement, and a recent, separate bid to lift his immunity died in Congress last week. The economy and health ministers resigned over the weekend following the report, saying they wanted to distance themselves from the government.
The illegal “La Linea” network began around the same time Perez Molina came to power and the subsequent designation of Claudia Mendez Asencio as head of customs in the tax administration in 2013.
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It is unclear how much money was involved in the fraud, More than 20 people have been arrested over it so far. The first round of the presidential vote is due on September 6, although with a 50 percent winning threshold in place, the elections are likely to go to a second round run-off on October 25. The investigation and those that followed it sent shockwaves through Guatemalan politics, and helped fuel massive demonstrations against Perez’s government.
