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Guatemalan president resigns amid corruption probe, vice president sworn in

Alan Gomez
USA TODAY
Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina acknowledges reporters Aug. 31, 2015, in Guatemala City.

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina resigned in the face of a growing corruption scandal after months of public protests and appeared in court Thursday to hear charges against him.

Perez Molina, 64, became the first Guatemalan president to step down when he submitted his resignation at midnight after a judge issued an order to detain him on charges of fraud, illicit association and receiving bribe money.

Guatemala's congress voted Thursday afternoon to accept Perez Molina's resignation and appointed his successor, Vice President Alejandro Maldonado, who was next in line to assume power, according to the country's constitution.

Maldonado was sworn in as the new leader, but his tenure will be brief because the country is scheduled to hold national elections on Sunday to pick a new president, vice president and members of the congress. 

Although Perez Molina maintained his innocence Thursday during an interview with a radio station before turning himself in, many see his resignation as the ultimate victory for a country that has been trying to weed out corruption for a decade.

Adriana Beltrán, a senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America, who has written a book about Guatemala's corruption, said neighboring countries can learn a lesson from what's happened in Guatemala, where the international community, local officials and the public combined to clean up a corrupt government.

"What you saw is a new generation emerge that said, 'We've had it,' " Beltrán said. "This is a model worth considering. ... The rule of law can prevail, and justice can take place."

Maldonado, a conservative lawyer and former Constitutional Court judge, recently became vice president, replacing replace Roxana Baldetti, who resigned May 8 because of the same scandal. She is jailed, facing charges, and also maintains her innocence.

More resignations soon followed Baldetti's. The heads of the Ministries of Interior, Environment, Energy and Mines, the tax collection agency, the social security agency and the Guatemalan Central Bank have stepped down amid probes into a wide variety of corruption scandals.

That broad sweep is due in part to the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, created by the United Nations in 2006 to help find and remove corrupt officials. Joy Olson, executive director of the Washington Office on Latin America, said the commission has worked because it did not dictate to Guatemala's government what to do but instead worked closely with judges, prosecutors and civil society organizations to clean up the country's mess.

"This isn't just like foreigners came in here and did this," Olson said. "What it did was create a space for incredibly courageous individuals."

Security was tight around the courthouse where Perez Molina appeared Thursday morning. Scores of police and members of the presidential guard were stationed around the building, the Associated Press reported.

Judge Miguel Angel Galvez ordered Perez Molina detained overnight before a hearing Friday morning. The former president was spotted entering a military barracks where he will spend the night in custody. Attorney General Thelma Aldana asked the court to jail Perez Molina during the trial.

In his radio interview, Perez Molina said he doesn’t “trust Guatemalan justice” and criticized the nation’s prosecutors and the U.N. commission that mounted a huge investigation in the fiscal fraud case that implicated him, the AP said.

Rights advocates and other Guatemalans were pleased with the detention order against the president and his subsequent resignation.

“This strengthens the rule of law,” said Jorge de Leon, Guatemala’s human rights prosecutor. “No one in the country is above the law.”

A growing protest movement brought together Guatemalans from all walks of life demanding that Perez Molina step down. Business leaders and Catholic church officials had called for Perez Molina to resign in recent weeks as the investigation of a customs fraud ring grew wider and hit more officials.

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