GUATEMALA-CORRUPTION/PEREZ Guatemala's Perez says won't resign over graft accusations

Record ID: 140598

  • Title: GUATEMALA-CORRUPTION/PEREZ Guatemala's Perez says won't resign over graft accusations
  • Date: 31st August 2015
  • Summary: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (AUGUST 31, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF GOVERNMENT PALACE GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT, OTTO PEREZ, ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE AND TAKING STAND AT LECTERN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT, OTTO PEREZ, SAYING: "From a telephone call they want to link a call I made to the superintendent of the tax authority and they're giving a context that responds to a criminal structure. I reject that it is like this." GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT, OTTO PEREZ, SAYING: "I am going to act in accordance with the law, I will not violate the law. And the law allows me to do two things and they're strictly tied to the law. The first is to present my resignation and make myself available to the courts and the second is to face due process. In the circumstances that the country is going, I believed at a personal cost to face due process." PEREZ SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT, OTTO PEREZ, SAYING: "The presumption of innocence here is something that should prevail. As for this great annoyance in the last three or four months, firstly I understand it but also I ask each of them for self reflection." GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT, OTTO PEREZ, SAYING: "I am available not only to face this due process but also respond to them, not only head on, with my head high because if there is anyone that has been hurt more than anyone else is precisely me." PEREZ ENDING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 15th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Guatemala
  • Country: Guatemala
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5R6R6DIYBR2DO9D3ATPYK4B4W
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Guatemalan President Otto Perez said on Monday (August 31) he would not resign over allegations of corruption levelled against him by prosecutors, despite mounting pressure on his government and calls for his impeachment.
    A number of corruption investigations have devastated Perez's cabinet and led to the resignation in May of Vice President Roxana Baldetti. Last week, Baldetti appeared in court to face charges against her.
    Guatemala's attorney general and a United Nations-backed anti-corruption body known as the CICIG sought to impeach Perez earlier this month after investigations into the corruption racket known as La Linea, or "the line," after a phone hotline that was used in the scandal.
    Under the scam, importers were able to avoid paying customs duties in exchange for bribes, which investigators have said were distributed to officials.
    Speaking to media, Perez said he had done nothing wrong.
    "From a telephone call they want to link a call I made to the superintendent of the tax authority and they're giving a context that responds to a criminal structure. I reject that it is like this," he said.
    Perez dismissed corruption allegations that have been levelled against him by prosecutors, and he adamantly said he would not resign despite mounting pressure on the government and an impeachment vote in the Congress as a presidential election looms.
    "I am going to act in accordance with the law, I will not violate the law. And the law allows me to do two things and they're strictly tied to the law. The first is to present my resignation and make myself available to the courts and the second is to face due process. In the circumstances that the country is going, I believed at a personal cost to face due process," he added.
    Earlier this month, Perez scraped through a vote in Congress that would have stripped him of immunity from prosecution.
    As the impeachment vote in Congress gathers pace, Perez said he will face due process head on.
    "I am available not only to face this due process but also respond to them, not only head on, with my head high because if there is anyone that has been hurt more than anyone else is precisely me," said the president.
    Amidst the corruption scandal, several of Perez's ministers have resigned from his cabinet. Prosecutors say Perez was at the head of the scam.
    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 Sept. 6 although, with a 50 percent winning threshold in place, the elections are likely to go to a second round run-off on Oct. 25.
    Perez cannot run for re-election under Guatemalan law.
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