‘A LEGACY OF HONESTY’
President vows change
Guatemala’s newly sworn-in president demanded that all top government officials submit their resignations and promised an honest and inclusive administration following the surprise resignation earlier Thursday of president Otto Perez Molina amid a widening fraud investigation.
President Alejandro Maldonado reached out to protesters who took to the streets against the country’s entrenched corruption, promising he would “leave a legacy of honesty” and restore faith in Guatemala’s democracy in his brief few months in office.
“You can’t consider your work done,” Maldonado said in remarks aimed at all those demanding change. “In what is left of this year, there must be a positive response.”
The unprecedented political drama played out after a week in which Perez Molina was stripped of his immunity, deserted by key members of his cabinet, and saw his jailed former vice-president ordered to stand trial. All this just days before Sunday’s election to choose his successor.
As Maldonado took office, Perez Molina was in court hearing accusations that he was involved in a scheme in which businesspeople paid bribes to avoid import duties through Guatemala’s customs agency. He is the first Guatemalan president to resign.
Judge Miguel Angel Galvez ordered Perez Molina detained overnight before the hearing was to resume Friday morning. The former president was later seen entering a military barracks where he will spend the night in custody.
Galvez cited a need to “ensure the continuity of the hearing” and guarantee the former president’s personal safety.
Perez Molina reiterated his willingness to face the investigation head-on.
“I have always said I will respect due process,” he said. “I do not have the slightest intention of leaving the country.”
Earlier in the day, the retired military general insisted upon his innocence in an interview during a break in the court proceedings.
He said he could have derailed the investigation, but didn’t.
Attorney General Thelma Aldana told reporters she will ask that Perez Molina, 64, be jailed during the court proceedings.
Analysts say the resignation was a key blow to corruption in the country and a boost for the rule of law.
“In the midst of this political crisis there is interesting and good news,” said Eric Olson, a Central America expert at the Washington-based Wilson Center. “The attorney general resisted strong pressures and even asked for the president to be incarcerated … that shows the institutions in Guatemala under the right circumstances can operate and be effective.”