China warns US after warship sails by man-made islands

The United States has vowed to continue more naval patrols as China has reacted angrily after a US naval warship sailed through disputed waters of the South China Sea, saying the move threatened its "sovereignty".
A Chinese guided-missile destroyer and a naval patrol ship shadowed and gave warnings to the US warship "according to law", China's defence ministry said on Tuesday.
The US patrol was a "coercive action that seeks to militarise the South China Sea region" and an "abuse" of freedom of navigation under international law, it added.

China will resolutely respond to any country's deliberate provocations," the ministry said in a statement that gave no details on precisely where the US ship sailed. China's foreign ministry

Beijing said that the USS Lassen illegally entered Chinese territory when it sailed early on Tuesday near the Spratly, or Nansha, group of islands.
"The action ... threatened China's sovereignty and security interests, endangered the safety of staff and equipment on those islands and harmed regional peace and stability," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.
Lu said Washington should "correct the mistake immediately" to avoid "further harm" to Chinese-US relations.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, testifying on Tuesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that the USS Lassen had passed within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese artificial island.
'Extremely irresponsible'
China's Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui summoned US Ambassador Max Baucus, telling him that the patrol was "extremely irresponsible," the foreign ministry said.
It earlier said the USS Lassen "illegally" entered waters near islands and reefs in the Spratlys without the Chinese government's permission.
"China will resolutely respond to any country's deliberate provocations," the ministry said in a statement that gave no details on precisely where the US ship sailed.
In Washington, US State Department spokesman John Kirby told a regular briefing that "Setting this aside, the US-China relationship is vitally important and one we want to see continue to improve and to grow for the benefit of both our countries, not to mention the region".
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 12-nautical mile limits cannot be set around man-made islands built on previously submerged reefs.
Pentagon officials say the US regularly conducts freedom-of-navigation operations around the world to challenge excessive maritime claims. The US Navy last went within 12 miles of Chinese-claimed territory in the Spratlys in 2012.
Freedom of navigation
"Freedom of navigation operations serve to protect the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law," a Pentagon spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, told DPA news agency on Tuesday.

One Minute South China Sea

Meanwhile, a US official told AFP news agency that the US Navy will send more warships to sail close to the artificial islands.
The Philippines, which has filed an arbitration case with the United Nations questioning China's sweeping claims over the sea, led US allies in the region in hailing the warship's passage through the disputed waters.
"I think everybody would welcome a balance of power anywhere in the world," Philippine President Benigno Aquino said.
China has been on a reclamation and construction spree in the disputed South China Sea despite objections by other claimants, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, a key shipping lane, with overlapping claims to the sea's potentially rich mineral resources.

Former comic wins Guatemala presidential runoff

So far he's given few clues, beyond hinting at reviving a dormant border dispute with neighboring Belize, or attaching GPS locating devices to teachers to ensure they're in class.
Morales' campaign was heavy on style and light on concrete policy proposals and as landslide vote numbers rolled in on Sunday night, his campaign headquarters looked a lot like a TV variety show, with a band and dancers.
His biggest campaign pledge - like that of nearly all other candidates - was to fight the entrenched corruption that forced the resignation of his predecessor, Otto Perez Molina, but Morales has spoken little about his own party's ties to some of the most conservative sectors of Guatemala's military, which has been struggling to avoid being held accountable for massacres committed during the country's 1960-1996 civil war.
"Jimmy Morales has no concrete plans to fight corruption, or anything else, for that matter. He just doesn't have any," said political analyst Renzo Rosal.
He predicted that Morales, whose conservative National Convergence Front won few seats in Congress, will wind up cobbling together alliances with the very ruling elite that was targeted by mass anti-corruption protests this summer.
National Convergence itself was founded by retired army officers, some of whom have been implicated in rights abuses during the 1960-1996 civil war that pitted the army against leftist guerrillas. Former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt is fighting genocide charges for his role in the conflict, in which 200,000 died..
Morales caused alarm in neighboring Belize, which has had a long territorial dispute with Guatemala, when he appeared on a television cooking show and said, "We are on the point of losing Belize."
As he concentrated on chopping a tomato, Morales told host Beatriz Colmenares that Guatemala can still go to international courts where "we can fight for that territory, or at least a part of that territory," though he clearly was speaking only of diplomatic action.
Morales, who is to assume the presidency Jan. 14 and has never held political office, said he would work with a transition team to study economic issues and work on development-oriented policies.
"It is not I who declare myself the winner but rather the people who have done so," said Morales, 46, who until this year perhaps was best known for TV skits portraying him in blackface or Indian garb.
Officials results showed him winning around 68 percent of the votes with 97 percent of polling stations tallied, swamping the vote total of former first lady Sandra Torres.
Hundreds of Morales backers gathered at his party headquarters and danced to a "banda" musical group.
"It is a historic vote," said supporter Israel Orozco. "It is a response by the people to ratify hope for change."
The runoff came a month and a half after Perez Molina resigned and was jailed in connection with a sprawling customs scandal. His former vice president has also been jailed in the multimillion-dollar graft and fraud scheme.
Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre, who replaced Baldetti as vice president after she resigned, assumed the country's top job when Perez Molina quit.
Though the street protests have died down since Perez Molina's resignation, many Guatemalans remain fed up with corruption and politics as usual, and Morales will face pressure to deliver immediately on demands for reform.
During his campaign, Morales promised to keep Attorney General Thelma Aldana, a key figure in the investigation, as well as a U.N. commission that was key to unravelling the scandal. He also vowed to strengthen oversight of government agencies.
Election officials and international observers said the vote came off without violence.
"They were very calm elections," said Juan Pablo Cordazzoli, chief of the Organization of American States observer mission. "There were no serious incidents like in the first roundFormer comic wins Guatemala presidential runoff

Guatemala families struggle for food in Central American drought

Guatemala families struggle for food in Central American drought

For hundreds of thousands of farmers in Guatemala, this year's harvest is over before it has even begun. The fields in the east of the country are yellow, the ground bone-dry.

For 74-year-old Marco Tulio Lopez Diaz, the situation is getting desperate. He has worked on his land in the village of San Miguel near Chiquimula his whole life.
It is a four-hour drive from the capital.
Farming is all that he knows, but with 80% of his corn crops dead and the ones that have survived providing no grain, he is hugely worried.
Marco Tulio lives in what is known as the Dry Corridor.

It is a drought-prone area of Central America that runs across El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
"We've often had tough droughts but not like this year," he says.
"We sowed the seeds, the plants are here but they've not produced anything. This year we've not been able to harvest."

Struggling smallholders

People in this part of Guatemala are smallholders who grow corn and beans.                
They cultivate enough to provide food for their families.
In a good year, they can grow surplus to sell or store, but after several difficult seasons, they have run out of stocks.
According to Action against Hunger, four out of the last six years have seen below-average rainfall.
Government data shows that by July this year, 400mm of rain had fallen in the area of Chiquimula - that is half of what it would be normally.
Other parts of the Dry Corridor have received even less rain.
Farmers now go for weeks without any rain at all, which is damaging during the crucial crop-growing period.
Then, when it does rain, it often comes with such force that the parched earth cannot soak it all up and the crops drown.

The impact of El Nino

Many experts blame the change in weather patterns on El Nino

Last year Guatemala, along with other Central American governments, declared a state of emergency because of the drought.
The problem is not expected to get any better any time soon.
The drought comes on top of the recent coffee-rust crisis which has swept through the region's coffee-growing communities.
Crop yields have fallen and that has led to unemployment.
Mr Tulio says the younger generations are increasingly heading to local towns to work - anything to avoid going into agriculture.
"This is a large area of impact and so people have two choices," says Diego Recalde who represents the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Guatemala.
"They look for other jobs in more urban areas in each of these countries or migrate through Mexico to the US."
In Guatemala, it is estimated that about 900,000 people have been hit by the drought in the Dry Corridor.
According to Maria Bernardez who is a food expert for the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office, more widely in Central America as many as 2.5 million people are affected.

No rain, no food

The drought is having an impact on people's health.
Doctor Juan Manuel Mejia works at the Nutritional Recovery Centre in the nearby town of Jocotan.
He is performing a check-up on four-year-old Claudia.

Rio 2016: 30% cutback on Games budget to avoid overspend

Rio 2016: 30% cutback on Games budget to avoid overspend

Rio 2016: 30% cutback on Games budget to avoid overspend

By Wyre Davies

South America correspondent

 

The organisers of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are making cutbacks of up to 30% to avoid going over the £2.38bn (US$3.6bn) budget.

Rio 2016 communications director Mario Andrada said the Brazilian public would not tolerate an overspend.

"The days of lavish spending are over," said Andrada. "We need to be creative in the way we find these savings."

Events across 50 Olympic and Paralympic sports featuring about 15,000 athletes will not be affected.

The BBC understands a crisis meeting has been held in the past few days.

The organising committee's budget is privately financed, with separate budgets for stadiums and infrastructure, but the Brazilian government would have to meet the cost of any overspend.

Ticket sales have been slow with only two million of the five million available sold so far.

"People get upset about luxury and excess, we have to tighten our belts," added Andrada.

At the Confederations Cup held in Brazil in 2013, fans protested angrily at the amount of money spent - about £2.57bn ($4bn) on staging the 2014 World Cup.

What will be affected?

Opening ceremony - approximately three and a half hours long - budget cut. Now estimated to be 10% of the cost of that of London 2012

All promotional videos must now be made in-house

Online lottery for tickets scrapped and all on open sale with the option to pay by instalments

More tents and fewer structures at Olympic events

Infrastructure at test events scaled back

Volunteer programme, which includes English lessons for participants, likely to be cut from 70,000 to 60,000

 

Guatemala mudslide area declared uninhabitable

Guatemala mudslide area declared uninhabitable

Guatemalan officials have declared a neighbourhood which was buried in a mudslide uninhabitable.

More than 160 people died when the mudslide tore through homes in Santa Catarina Pinula on Thursday.

Emergency workers are still excavating the area but have given up hope of finding any survivors.

It is not yet clear what will happen to the survivors and whether the state will offer them help to relocate to safer ground.

Perilous location

Guatemala's National Disaster Reduction Commission (Conred) says it had warned as early as 2009 that the neighbourhood of El Cambray 2, which lies 16km (10 miles) east of Guatemala City, was at risk.

The middle-class neighbourhood was built at the bottom of a steep hillside next to a river.

Bulldozers move land in Cambray 2 on 5 October, 2015.Image copyrightAP

Image caption

Heavy machinery is being used to dig through tonnes of mud

Conred said its most recent warning came in November 2014, when it alerted local authorities to the fact that the river was eroding the base of the hill, making the hillside very unstable.

However, residents said they had not been made aware of the risks.

A spokesman for the local authorities in El Cambray 2 said what had happened was "a natural disaster, like an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, which can't be foreseen".

He also said that residents had been told of the Conred report, "but had decided to stay put for a variety of reasons".

Tonnes of earth

Heavy rains had soaked the earth causing it to come crashing down on the houses below late on Thursday, when most residents were asleep.

One-hundred-and-sixty-one people have been confirmed dead and 300 are still missing.

People rest as they wait for the remains of their relatives outside a morgue in Santa Catarina Pinula on 5 October, 2015.Image copyrightReuters

Image caption

Exhausted relatives have been waiting in front of the town's morgue for the bodies of their loved ones to be identified

Forensic workers rest outside a morgue in Santa Catarina Pinula, on 5 October, 2015.Image copyrightReuters

Image caption

Forensic workers have been drafted in to help with the identification process

Another 230 people are staying in shelters.

President Alejandro Maldonado on Monday declared three days of national mourning.

He also said that he was determined to find all those buried under the mud: "We're not going to stop until we finish this job."

However, conditions at the site of the landslide worsened on Monday.

Conred officials said they had detected cracks in the hilltop through which water was seeping, heightening the risk of further mudslides.

Missing ship: El Faro confirmed to have sunk off Bahamas

Missing ship: El Faro confirmed to have sunk off Bahamas

The lost cargo ship El Faro sank in Bahamian waters after sailing into the path of Hurricane Joaquin, according to the US Coast Guard.
The 224m (735ft) vessel and its crew of 33 have been missing since issuing a distress call on Thursday.
The coast guard says an "unidentifiable body" has been found but a search remains underway.
On Sunday, search planes found debris including life jackets, containers and oil in the water.
It was this find that led rescuers to the conclusion that the ship had sunk.
Along with the body, an empty, heavily damaged life boat has also been found.
"We are still looking for survivors or any signs of life," US Coast Guard Capt Mark Fedor said, but adding the crew faced "challenging conditions to survive".
The coast guard says it has searched 70,000 sq nautical miles attempting to find the crew of 28 Americans and five Poles.
The ship, which was travelling from Florida to Puerto Rico, was taking on water before it sank according to the distress call.
Its owners, Tote Maritime, say the ship lost power after its engines broke down.
Satellite picture of Hurricane JoaquinImage copyrightREUTERS/NOAA
Image caption
Hurricane Joaquin from space
Tote Maritime, said two vessels it dispatched to the scene had found a container "which appears to be from the El Faro".
The company has also defended its decision to allow the ship to sail so close to a hurricane.
In a statement it said the crew were "equipped to handle situations such as changing weather."
Joaquin brought heavy rains to the Bahamas, damaging a number of houses. The weakened storm has since hit Bermuda.

California enacts right-to-die law for terminally ill

California enacts right-to-die law for terminally ill

California has joined four other US states that allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives with a doctor's supervision.
State Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on Monday.
The bill was partly inspired by the case of a terminally ill California woman who moved to Oregon to end her life.
At least two dozen states introduced aid-in-dying legislation this year, but none has become law.
The right-to-die movement gained support in California after Brittany Maynard, a cancer patient who lived in the state, moved to Oregon to legally end her life.
Her family including her mother, Debbie Ziegler, spoke in support of the bill.
Religious groups had opposed the bill, saying assisted suicide was against God's will. The Catholic Church had urged Governor Brown to veto it.
Advocates for people with disabilities also worried that terminally ill patients could be pressured into choosing death.
'Would be a comfort'
Governor Brown, a Catholic who once studied to become a priest, had taken weeks to decide whether to sign the bill.
"In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in face of my own death," Governor Brown said.
Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Media caption
California has become the fifth American state to allow terminally ill patients to end their lives legally
"I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the option afforded by this bill."
The law stipulates that two doctors must approve the use of the life-ending drugs and two witnesses must be present when the drugs are administered.
The patient also must be physically capable of taking the drugs themselves.
Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana already have similar laws in place.

Guatemala vice president resigns amid customs corruption scandal

Guatemala vice president resigns amid customs corruption scandal



Guatemala's vice president resigned on Friday to face an investigation over her alleged involvement in a customs corruption racket, amid a scandal that has hurt the ruling party ahead of elections.

President Otto Perez Molina announced the decision after reports linked Vice President Roxana Baldetti to a ring accused of taking bribes to avoid levying customs taxes that was purportedly led by her personal secretary.

Baldetti has denied any wrongdoing, but her chief aide disappeared after joining her on a trip to South Korea in April.

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Opposition lawmakers have demanded Baldetti face a probe, and angry Guatemalans have spilled into the streets calling for her resignation.

"This is a personal decision to submit to the needed investigations..." Perez Molina said. "Her decision is personal, thoughtful and courageous."

Around 500 people gathered in the capital's central plaza to celebrate, waving the country's blue and white flag.

"Baldetti's resignation was necessary because we don't want more corruption. Now the government knows that we are not going to tolerate more abuses against the people," said Rodrigo Alvarez, a university student.

Baldetti was elected in 2011 with Perez Molina, a former general who had led forces during the country's three-decade-long civil war that ended in 1996. Their Patriot Party has been hurt by the scandal ahead of a presidential election in September.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement that is supported the government's efforts to fight corruption and urged officials to keep working with a United Nations-backed office that played a key role in the current customs case.

"Strengthening transparency and government accountability is a central element of the Alliance for Prosperity," said U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke, referring to a U.S. aid plan for Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Guatemala's Supreme Court this week ruled lawmakers could revoke the vice president's immunity from prosecution.

Twenty-four people, including the country's top tax agent, have already been arrested in the scandal and authorities are looking for Baldetti's former top aide, Juan Carlos Monzon.

(Writing by Michael O'Boyle; Editing by Ken Wills & Kim Coghill)

Tsunami alert as powerful earthquake strikes Chile

A massive 8.3-magnitude earthquake has struck off the central coast of Chile, killing at least three people, triggering the evacuation of coastal areas and sparking warnings that tsunami waves could reach as far as Japan.

The earthquake had a shallow depth of 11km and hit at 7:54pm (22:54 GMT), with the epicentre located about 500km north of the capital Santiago, seismologists at the University of Chile said.

Announcing in a televised statement that she would travel to the worst-affected areas, President Michelle Bachelet, said: "Once again we're having to deal with another harsh blow from nature.

"Unfortunately we've received information that as of now we are certain three people are confirmed dead."


Several strong aftershocks hit within minutes as tsunami alarms sounded in the nearby port of Valparaiso.

Authorities said some adobe houses collapsed in the inland city of Illapel, located about 280km north of Santiago.

Denis Cortes, Illapel's mayor, told a local television station that a woman had been killed in the city but declined to give any details.

Electricity was knocked out, leaving the city in darkness. "We are very scared. Our city panicked," Cortes said.

Officials reported the death of a man of 86, but did not say where he had died.

The country's state copper miner Codelco said it was evacuating its workers at its Ventanas division.

Waves triggered by the earthquake have begun hitting the country's coastline, the ONEMI emergency service said.

Tsunami waves of up to three metres are possible along the coast of French Polynesia, the Pacific Tsunami Center (PTWC) in Hawaii said.

The PTWC also issued an alert for tsunami waves of between 0.3 to 1 metre for Japan, Antarctica, and most of the South Pacific, including New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.


Tsunami alert as powerful earthquake strikes Chile

New sewage system to tackle Rio 2016's water problems

A new sewage system will be built in Rio de Janeiro to help clean up the water for the sailing events at the 2016 Olympics, organising committee chief Carlos Nuzman said Wednesday.

Several rowers became ill during a recent Olympics test regatta in Guanabara Bay.

"The problem will be solved by the beginning of the Games next year," Nuzman told reporters on a visit to London. The Rio Games run August 5-21.

German sailor Erik Heil said he suffered a serious bacterial infection and spent several days undergoing treatment at a Berlin hospital on his return home from Rio.


Brazil prepares for 2016 Olympic Game
Nuzman said the improvement of water quality was "a key priority" and a "serious matter", affirming that the port of Marina da Gloria should "be totally cleaned up by the end of the year".

Scientists at a Rio de Janeiro research institute found a new "super-bacteria" that is resistant to antibiotics in the waters where sailors will compete in the Olympic sailing events in 2016.

The bacteria is normally found in hospital waste and can cause urinary, gastrointestinal and pulmonary infections, officials with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation said.

In addition, dead fish had also washed up on the banks of a Rio de Janeiro lake that's slated to hold the rowing competitions.

Fish die-offs are a frequent occurrence in Rio's waterways, which are choked with raw sewage and garbage.

The latest incident, affecting thousands of small silvery fish called twaite shad, began several days ago at the Rodrigo de Freitas lake, where the Olympic canoeing and rowing events are to be held.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/sewage-system-solve-rio-2016-water-problems-150902104344136.html

New sewage system to tackle Rio 2016's water problems

Arrest warrant issued for Guatemalan president

A judge has issued an arrest warrant for Guatemalan President Otto Perez, who faces prosecution for allegedly masterminding a huge fraud scheme, according to the country's prosecutor-general.

The development comes a day after he was stripped of his immunity due to organised corruption charges against him.

RELATED: Can corruption be wiped out in Guatemala?


Prosecutor-general Thelma Aldana said Judge Miquel Angel Galvez issued the order on Wednesday afternoon on crimes of illicit association, fraud and receiving bribe money related to a widespread customs fraud ring in which the vice president has already been jailed and faces charges.

Under Guatemalan law, Perez will be automatically removed from office if remanded in custody by a criminal court.

Guatemala's attorney general also said on Wednesday that she was confident embattled Perez would be convicted of corruption, as the country's top court rejected Perez's challenge to prosecutors' moves to try him.

"This has been happening at an incredibly fast rate. If the judge decides to send him to prison after he is picked up, this might be the end of his political career," Al Jazeera's David Mercer, reporting from the Guatemalan capital of Antigua, said.

"Despite the mass protests against him, he many times said that he had no connection to this multi-million-dollar fraud."

The conservative leader is against the ropes after the Guatemalan Congress voted unanimously on Tuesday to strip him of his immunity, clearing the way for prosecutors to go ahead with their case against him.

Investigators accuse Perez of running a scheme in which businesses paid bribes to dodge taxes on their imports, defrauding the country of millions of dollars.

The scandal, which has already felled his former vice president and a string of top officials, comes as Guatemala prepares for elections on Sunday to choose his successor.

Perez, in power since 2012, is constitutionally barred from running for re-election. His term ends on January 14.

The president has been left increasingly isolated by the scandal.

Six of his 14 ministers have resigned in recent days, along with several other top officials.

Source: Agencies

Arrest warrant issued for Guatemalan president

Arrest warrant issued for Guatemala President Perez Molina

An arrest warrant has been issued against Guatemala's President Otto Perez Molina, according to the public prosecutor's office.

On Tuesday, congress voted to remove his immunity from prosecution amid corruption allegations.
Prosecutors accuse the president of masterminding a scheme to defraud the customs service of millions of dollars, allegations he denies.
A judge has barred Mr Perez Molina from leaving the country.

The president, whose term runs out in January, will now be summoned to appear before a court.
The detention order was signed by judge Miguel Angel Galvez, the prosecutor's office said.
A spokesman for Mr Perez Molina had earlier said the president would be "very respectful and submit himself to the rule of law".
Demonstrators react as they hear the news that Congress has voted to withdraw President Otto Perez Molina's immunity from prosecution on 1 September, 2015.Image copyrightAP
Image caption
Anti-corruption protesters were jubilant when news of the vote in congress came through

On Tuesday, all members of congress present at the vote endorsed a move to strip the president of his immunity.
They included members of the president's own party.
A previous vote to remove his immunity failed last month.
But since then, more details of the corruption scandal have emerged and calls for the president to resign have increased.



Analysis: Katy Watson, BBC News
This would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. But so much has changed and Guatemalans feel empowered by what's happening with their country's politics.
Mr Perez Molina has repeatedly denied the allegations, and despite calls for him to step down, he has so far refused to listen.
His lawyer says he is prepared to face the accusations against him. Now with an arrest warrant, Guatemalans angry over government corruption are a step closer to seeing that happen.
Investigators allege that government officials received a cut from bribes paid by businesses seeking to evade import duties.
Vice-President Roxana Baldetti and a string of top officials have been forced to resign over the scandal.
Ms Baldetti is in jail awaiting trial on charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes.
A cab driver looks at pinatas depicting former Vice President Roxana Baldetti (left) and Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Mr Perez Molina in Guatemala City on 27 August, 2015Image copyrightReuters
Image caption
A series of anti-corruption protests have been held in Guatemala in recent months
The president was stripped of his immunity just days before presidential elections on Sunday.
Some protesters have demanded that the polls be postponed, but officials argue that it would be against the law.
Mr Otto Perez Molina is barred by the constitution from standing again.

Arrest warrant issued for Guatemala President Perez Molina

Guatemala judge orders jail for ex-president Perez Molina

Guatemala's former president has spent his first night in prison after a judge ordered his detention while hearings over alleged corruption take place.
Otto Perez Molina, 64, left the court in Guatemala City on Thursday under heavy police guard and was taken to a military prison in the capital.
On Tuesday, Congress stripped him of his immunity from prosecution which opened the way for criminal charges to be brought against him.
He has denied any wrongdoing.

The vice-president was sworn in as interim head of state ahead of elections this Sunday after Mr Perez Molina resigned on Thursday.
Alejandro Maldonado is expected to govern until the new president is sworn in on 14 January.
Mr Maldonado has only been in the post since mid-May, when his predecessor Roxana Baldetti resigned.

Ms Baldetti is accused of involvement in the same corruption scheme that Mr Perez Molina is said to have masterminded.
She is also being held in prison.



Guatemala judge orders jail for ex-president Perez Molina

Analysis: Katy Watson, BBC Central America correspondent
Mr Perez Molina has been hanging on until the bitter end - determined not to resign, even amid weekly protests and calls for him to go.
But stripped of his immunity earlier this week, barred from leaving Guatemala and with an arrest warrant, he had little choice but to give himself up.
He maintains his innocence and his lawyer says he is prepared to face the accusations against him.
With presidential elections on Sunday, it sends a message that corruption won't be tolerated as it was in the past - people here see this as the start of a new chapter.
At least 100 people are being investigated in the scheme, dubbed La Linea, or The Line.
Investigators say it involved businesses paying bribes to government officials and customs officers in return for being allowed to evade import duties.
Guatemala's former President Otto Perez Molina arrives at Matamoros Army Base with police escort after a hearing at the Supreme Court of Justice in Guatemala City - 3 September 2015Image copyrightReuters
Image caption
Mr Perez Molina was taken to the Matamoros military prison after his court hearing
But until Wednesday night, the president had stood firm, saying he would serve out his term.
On Tuesday, a judge barred him from leaving the country "as a precautionary measure".
Earlier this week, he said he would be "very respectful and submit himself to the rule of law".
Mr Perez Molina's resignation on Thursday and arrest are a huge victory for an unprecedented anti-corruption protest movement that had swelled in recent months, with regular marches in Guatemala's major cities.

Young Guatemalan Boy's Death Shows Grim Reality of Border Crisis

The heavy leather boots found with him suggest 15-year-old Gilberto Francisco Ramos Juarez knew he had a difficult path to trudge. It turned out to be deadly.

Today, Gilberto’s father waits for a death certificate to be issued so the body of his son can be sent back to their remote farming village in the mountains of Guatemala.

Gilberto’s black leather boots, stamped on the heel with the word “Rhino” and the face of what looks like a charging rhinoceros, were found with his remains two weeks ago on the outskirts of the small Texas town of La Joya. They, along with Gilberto's dusty blue jeans with Angry Birds embroidered in red over the back pockets and the phone number scribbled on the back of his belt buckle, were used to help identify the boy and connect him to his father.


Details of Gilberto's exact journey were not available, but if he left from his village, he would have traveled nearly 2,000 miles - a distance almost equivalent to the length of the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

Gilberto’s death has reverberated not just in the United States, but in Mexico and Central America, bringing a grim reality to the crisis that until now has been mostly about those who took similar journeys and made it to America’s doorstep.

The government of Guatemala will be paying all the expenses to return his body to the farming village that was his home, San José Las Flores, Chiantla, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, said José Barillas, consul general for Guatemala in Houston.

“The government has declared this a very sad event,” Barilla said. He said the government has begun a fierce campaign to prevent children who may be considering taking the trip to the U.S. without the company of an adult. “The danger of doing it is great,” he said.

Gilberto may have known of some of the danger. The white rosary, the prayer beads of the Roman Catholic faithful, suggest he hoped for divine guidance and protection on his trip. How he died has not yet been determined, but the heat and scant vegetation of the area suggest dehydration could have played a role.

Officials, going by his birth certificate, initially said Gilberto was 11. But his father, Francisco Ramos Diaz, told The Associated Press Tuesday that he was really 15. The father explained the family waited several years to register Gilberto's death and because they couldn't remember the date, gave him the birth date of his younger brother.


Gilberto might have become one of the many bodies found along the border that is never identified, but the phone number on the backside of the leather and metal buckle put authorities in touch with his brother in Chicago. The front of the worn belt's buckle was emblazoned with the word “Elvis.” Authorities initially thought, based on the remains, that Gilberto was in his late teens.

The boy’s death has been traumatic for his brother, said Barilla. The brother, an adult, has declined media interviews, Barilla said.

There are still questions surrounding the young boy's fatal trek. According to the Hidalgo County’s Sheriff’s Office, investigators were told Gilberto was last seen and heard from crossing into the U.S. with an uncle 25 days before he was found. Gilberto’s brother said the uncle had been detained by the U.S. Border Patrol and that was the last time anyone had heard from the boy.

More than 52,000 children from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, many turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents when they arrive. Thousands more are expected to make the dangerous trip.Young Guatemalan Boy's Death Shows Grim Reality of Border Crisis