Guatemalan President Rejects Graft Claims Ahead of Elections
Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina rejected accusations by the attorney general that he led a customs tax fraud racket as Congress weighs a vote this week over whether to strip him of immunity from prosecution.
Addressing reporters for the first time since the allegations were made Aug. 21, Perez Molina said he won’t resign and that he “did not receive a single cent” in the alleged bribery scheme that has seen his former vice president and two former tax chiefs jailed.
“I will respect due process,” Perez Molina, 64, said Monday in Guatemala City. “The presumption of innocence is something that must prevail. I never in my life thought I would be going through this.”
The widening scandal has overshadowed elections scheduled for Sept. 6 in a country that has Central America’s biggest economy and serves as a gateway to the U.S. for goods, immigrants and illegal drugs. An estimated 70,000 people filled the capital’s central plaza last week demanding Perez Molina’s resignation after more than a dozen ministers and senior aides quit or were fired since May.
Following the attorney general’s allegations, a five-member congressional committee recommended on Saturday that Perez Molina have his immunity revoked. Doing so would require 105 votes in the 158-member legislature. Lawmakers have agreed to discuss the proposal Tuesday.
If congress votes to strip the president of immunity, prosecutors could arrest Perez Molina and formally accuse him in a criminal court. If the president steps down, Vice President Alejandro Maldonado would complete Perez Molina’s term, which ends in January.