GUATEMALA-CORRUPTION/MORNING REAX News of Perez refusal to step down dominates Guatemalan headlines

Record ID: 142805

  • Title: GUATEMALA-CORRUPTION/MORNING REAX News of Perez refusal to step down dominates Guatemalan headlines
  • Date: 24th August 2015
  • Summary: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (AUGUST 24, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT PALACE GUATEMALAN FLAG FLAPPING IN WIND VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT PALACE MAN POLISHING SHOES IN STREET MAN HAVING SHOES POLISHED AND READING NEWSPAPER WITH HEADLINE THAT READS: "I WON'T STEP DOWN!" AND PHOTOGRAPH OF GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT OTTO PEREZ VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES NEWS OF PEREZ' REFUSAL TO STEP DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESIDENT, WALTER ROBLEDO, SAYING: "What we're seeing in this country is quite out of control in every sense of the word because we need a government that is able to be clean." EXTERIOR GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS IN CAPITAL CITY VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN STREET / RIOT POLICEMEN GUARDING GOVERNMENT BUILDING BOY AND MAN IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESIDENT, FERMIN CHAVEZ, SAYING: "The people are asking that he (Perez Molina) steps down. The people put him there and the people will get rid of him, because that's how things are. If this is a democracy, he should be respectful of what the people demand." VARIOUS OF POLICE ON STREET GENERAL VIEW OF STREET
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Guatemala
  • Country: Guatemala
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEKE7EO9FZY8JZ5SKLEQLH1F0B
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Newspaper headlines were plastered with news on Monday (August 24) reporting that Guatemalan President Otto Perez dismissed corruption allegations levelled against him by prosecutors.
    On Sunday (August 23) Perez said he would not stand down, despite mounting pressure on the government and calls for his impeachment as a presidential election looms.
    In a combative, pre-recorded address that was televised to the nation, an animated Perez said he had received no money from the customs racket to which investigators have linked him, and stressed that his conscience "was clear".
    Guatemala's attorney general and a U.N.-backed anti-corruption body known as the CICIG sought to impeach Perez on Friday after months of investigation into the racket known as La Linea, or 'the line', after a phone hotline used in the scandal.
    Resident, Walter Robledo, said Guatemalans deserved to have an honest government.
    "What we're seeing in this country is quite out of control in every sense of the word because we need a government that is able to be clean," Robledo said.
    Another resident, Fermin Chavez, said the people want Perez to leave.
    "The people are asking that he (Perez) steps down. The people put him there and the people will get rid of him, because that's how things are. If this is a democracy, he should be respectful of what the people demand," Chavez said.
    Perez also took a swipe at sectors of the international community he said were "seeking to intervene" in Guatemalan democracy. He did not specify to whom he was referring.
    Investigations led by the CICIG have battered Guatemala's political establishment and also engulfed the running mate of the favourite to succeed Perez, casting doubt on the outcome of the race.
    On Friday (August 21), former Vice President Roxana Baldetti was arrested over the La Linea scandal. Attorney General Thelma Aldana submitted a bid to impeach Perez later that day.
    Perez's agriculture and health ministers both quit his cabinet on Sunday, following in the footsteps of two others on Saturday who said they could no longer serve in his government.
    Baldetti, who stood down in May and was arrested on Friday while receiving treatment at a hospital, is suspected of illicit association, bribery and fraud linked to the customs racket. 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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