Guatemala: Employer Lobby Fears Clashes Amid Corruption Scandal

Guatemala’s business lobby said it was concerned about possible “public disturbances and clashes” on Tuesday following a United Nations investigation into massive corruption scandals that reaches to the upper echelons of the political and economic elites of the country.

The recent revelations made by the United Nations along with the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala has angered many, prompting protests against corruption throughout the country.

Guatemalans blocked various avenues of the capital Tuesday to demand the U.N. body investigate tax evasion allegations by businessmen, reported Prensa Latina.

Earlier, the main opposition party of the country, Lider, urged daily mobilizations this week.

Party spokesperson Fridel de Leon said hundreds of thousands will take to the streets to protest against the commission's allegations of corruption and money laundering filed against six of the party's lawmakers, two mayors, as well as the party's candidate for the vice presidency Edgar Barquin, a former president at the national Bank of Guatemala.

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In Leon's opinion, the party is victim of a conspiracy as it leads the polls for the next general elections on Sept. 6, claiming that this judicial process and criminal investiagtion is being politicized.

Leader of the opposition party, businessman and presidential candidate, Manuel Baldizon, is so far the leading the polls.

Popular protests demanding President Otto Perez Molina's resignation have been ongoing since April when fraud scandals first began to surface after investigations uncovered US$6.7 million was embezzled from the country's Social Security Institute in a corruption scandal involving many government officials, including the vice president who was forced to resign.

On July 4, a legislative commission voted in favor of removing Perez Molina's immunity privileges, opening the path to a historic probe against the country's president.

Guatemala ranks among one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International.