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News > Latin America

Thousands Rally for Guatemalan Party Accused of Corruption

  • Protesters gather outside the Guatemalan Supreme Court with signs that read, 'Justice'

    Protesters gather outside the Guatemalan Supreme Court with signs that read, 'Justice' | Photo: EFE

Published 23 July 2015
Opinion

Thousands of people took to the streets as corruption continues to dominate political debate in the country.

Thousands of protesters gathered for a vigil outside the country’s Supreme Court in Guatemala’s capital city Wednesday, calling for democracy to be respected.

According to local press reports, around 2,500 people participated in the three-hour event, raising banners with phrases that read, “No to the judicialization of politics, yes to the September 6 elections,” and, “Guatemala Free, sovereign and independent.”

The demonstration was organized by the main political opposition party, Renewed Democratic Liberty (Lider), to highlight its claims that some of its candidates were unfairly disqualified by the Supreme Court leading up to the Sept. 6 general elections.

However, several of the barred candidates face corruption accusations, including national Representative Jaime Martinez Lohayza, who is accused of money laundering.

Similarly, last week, the public ministry and Guatemala’s U.N. anti-impunity commission CICIG asked the Supreme Court to remove the immunity from prosecution enjoyed by Lider Vice President Edgar Barquin, so that he too could be investigated for corruption allegations.

The protests also coincided with the Supreme Court ruling upholding the controversial presidential candidacy of Zury Rios, the daughter of the country’s former dictator from 1982-1983, Efrain Rios Montt.

Rios Montt's military regime carried out a scorched earth campaign, largely against the country’s indigenous population, which marked one of the bloodiest periods of Guatemala's 36-year civil war. Among the numerous accusations against the former strongman include the killing at least 1,771 Guatemalans in the area of Ixil, 1,400 human rights violations, and displacing tens of thousands of indigenous people.

The election campaign for Guatemala's upcoming Sept. 6 election kicked off amid deepening political turmoil, including a wave of massive corruption scandals embroiling the government, fraud probes into high-ranking officials, and widespread calls for the resignation of President Otto Perez Molina.

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