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News > World

Guatemalans Protest President Morales' Interference with Investigation into Corruption

  • The Central American state has been plagued with misdeeds for the better part of a decade-and-a-half.

    The Central American state has been plagued with misdeeds for the better part of a decade-and-a-half. | Photo: Reuters

Published 26 September 2017
Opinion

The Central American state has been plagued with misdeeds for the better part of a decade-and-a-half.

For the past 11 days, Guatemalans have taken to the streets of the capital to demand President Jimmy Morales' resignation.

RELATED: 
Guatemala: Indigenous Groups Call for Morales’ Resignation

Morales is being heavily scrutinized for seemingly interfering with a UN investigation after he expelled one of the agency's commissioners.

The Central American state has been plagued with misdeeds for the better part of a decade-and-a-half. In 2007, a senior UN official said Guatemala was a "good place to commit a murder, because you will almost certainly get away with it."

That same year the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) was established to investigate crimes perpetrated by government officials.

Recent Cicig investigations accused former President Otto Pérez Molina of being a part of a crime syndicate.

Morales took advantage of the opportunity and launched a successful presidential bid, with the platform "Neither corrupt nor a thief."

But, shortly after he took office, early last year, he was accused of accepting illegal donations from drug cartels.

Several members of Morales' administration, such as his brother Samuel, his son Jose, his vice minister of foreign affairs, his interior minister, his finance minister and his labor minister have either resigned or been arrested on corruption charges.

Morales went so far as to attempt to expel Cicig Director Ivan Velasquez, but was blocked by the Supreme Court. 

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