Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, a comic who won office in 2015 on an anti-corruption platform, is entangled in a political crisis that threatens his presidency. The saga in Central America’s largest economy began in August when prosecutors announced they’d launched a preliminary investigation into Morales for accepting illegal campaign contributions. Morales attempted to expel a chief investigator in the case and now faces additional accusations of wrongdoing. He’s so far defeated bids in Congress to strip his immunity from prosecution, but anti-government protests have grown and his support in the legislature has dwindled.
The presidency is his first elected position. Before that, Morales was a TV comedian and owner of a television production company. He rode a wave of voter disgust with corruption to win office in 2015 on the slogan "neither corrupt nor a thief." The previous president, vice-president and central bank chief were all jailed on corruption allegations in the year leading up to Morales’s election and are awaiting trial.
