Guatemalan protesters demand extension of graft panel’s term

GUATEMALA CITY — Thousands marched Thursday to protest President Jimmy Morales' decision to end the work of a U.N. anti-corruption commission that has helped lead high-profile graft probes targeting dozens of powerful Guatemalans, including one involving Morales.

Students, farmers, clerics, academics and others turned out in the streets of Guatemala City as well as plazas and highways outside the capital to demand Morales allow the commission, known as CICIG for its initials in Spanish, to stay.

Morales announced at the end of August that he would not renew the mandate of the commission for another two-year term, giving it until the end of its current mandate next September to wind down its activities and transfer them to local institutions.