Guatemala's President Refuses to Resign Despite Corruption Charges
After months of protests centered on accusations that link him to a multi-million dollar corruption scandal, President Otto Pérez Molina is refusing to step down from office.
On Sunday Pérez Molina addressed calls for his resignation via television, saying, “I will not resign, and I will fully face and submit to the procedures that correspond to the law.”
The scandal, which the 64-year-old leader claims no part in, involves importers paying bribes to Tax Authority officials in order to obtain discounts.
On Friday, former Vice President Roxana Baldetti was arrested on corruption charges, and over the weekend a good majority of Pérez Molina’s Cabinet stepped down as well, as reported in the BBC.
Despite what has been happening with officials in his administration, Pérez Molina has vehemently dismissed claims that he had received money from the customs bribery scheme and insisted that his conscience is clear.
"I categorically reject any link," Pérez Molina said on television. The troubled leader's defiant words came after a late-night Cabinet meeting, held behind closed doors at the presidential palace.
Angry crowds gathered outside the presidential palace on Saturday, singing the national anthem, waving the Guatemalan flag and shouting for Pérez Molina to resign.
Hours after Vice President Baldetti was arrested for her ties to the corruption scandal, Attorney General Thelma Aldana and Iván Velásquez, the head of an international team of anticorruption prosecutors, announced that the evidence implicated the president and the vice president as leaders of the scheme.
As quoted in the New York Times, Aldana said, “From the evidence seized in raids along with wiretaps, it is probable that the president of the republic has participated in committing the same punishable conduct.”
These allegations of corruption at the highest levels of government have occurred as Guatemala prepares to hold a presidential election on Sept. 6.
Watch President Pérez Molina's full speech:
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