Drug Trafficking, Corruption Funds Politics in Guatemala

Drug-trafficking money and corruption are the key sources of political parties’ finances in Guatemala, a new report by the U.N's International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala said Thursday.

"Corruption is the principal source of financing for political parties," said the commissioner at the CICIG Ivan Velasquez, during a press conference in Guatemala City.

The U.N. commission, known as CICIG, said government contractors contribute slightly more than 50 percent of campaign financing.

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The commission's revelation has ramped up pressure on the Central American country's political crisis and has turned on the anger of hundreds of thousands of citizens, who have been taking to the streets across the country, demanding to end corruption and the resignation of President Otto Perez Molina.

The report comes two months before the presidential elections and also comes amid a large-scale federal inquiry into a corruption scandal known as “La Linea” (the line), which involves numerous public servants, including president Molina and several top officials.

CICIG’s investigations have rocked the government and led to the arrest of some high-ranking officials, including the leading vice presidential candidate and Central Bank chief Edgar Barquin. Guatemala ranks among one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International.