Thousands March in Guatemala to Pressure President Pérez Molina to Resign
Thousands of demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina.
The president is currently facing impeachment proceedings over his alleged ties to a corruption scandal, which has led to the arrest of former Vice President Roxana Baldetti. As reported by the BBC, prosecutors have alleged that Baldetti, who appeared in court on Wednesday, took a 50 percent cut from bribes in a customs scandal.
As previously reported in Latin Post, Pérez Molina took to television to publically refute any link to the scandal. The troubled 64-year-old leader is due to step down at the end of his term in January.
In a show of public outrage, which has become utterly familiar, marchers took to the streets of Guatemala City on Thursday, waving placards that read, "Guatemala has no president."
The U.S. Embassy has tweeted information of the unrest.
As reported in the New York Times, Claudia Paz y Paz, a woman who served as Attorney General in Guatemala until 2014, summed up the feeling of the nation, saying, “Citizens are demanding that these acts not be tolerated.”
“When they see that people are pocketing public funds, it generates indignation,” she added.
One marcher, speaking to Reuters, described the anger being felt in Guatemala over the president’s refusal to step down, saying, "It can't be that he looks the other way and ignores the fact the people don't want him anymore."
The pressure on the president, coming from the people as well as from congress, is mounting. If Pérez Molina does not choose to step down, he faces the real possibility of being arrested, just as former Vice President Baldetti was.
Speaking on Guatemalan radio, the president said that any resignation woud be "a personal decision, I have asked God for great wisdom so I can be enlightened and take the best decisions for the Guatemalan people."
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