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
Friday, September 11, 2015
Friday, September 4, 2015
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
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.
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.
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21663157-government-economic-holeand-still-digging-brazil-prepares-make-grave-fiscal-error
All fall down
Brazil is in an economic hole—and still digging
Sep 5th 2015 | From the print edition
Timekeeper
PLENTY of countries run deficits. And when recessions occur, loosening the public purse strings makes sense for many of them. But Brazil is not most countries. Its economy is in deep trouble and its fiscal credibility is crumbling fast.
The end of the global commodity boom and a confidence-sapping corruption scandal, after years of economic mismanagement, have extinguished growth. Brazil’s GDP is expected to contract by 2.3% this year. Fast-rising joblessness, together with falling real private-sector pay and weak consumption, are squeezing tax receipts. Meanwhile rising inflation, allied to a free-falling currency, means investors demand higher returns on government debt. The result is a budgetary disaster. This year a planned primary surplus (ie, before interest payments) has vanished. Once interest payments are included, the total deficit this year is projected to be 8-9% of GDP
All fall down
Brazil is in an economic hole—and still digging
Sep 5th 2015 | From the print edition
Timekeeper
PLENTY of countries run deficits. And when recessions occur, loosening the public purse strings makes sense for many of them. But Brazil is not most countries. Its economy is in deep trouble and its fiscal credibility is crumbling fast.
The end of the global commodity boom and a confidence-sapping corruption scandal, after years of economic mismanagement, have extinguished growth. Brazil’s GDP is expected to contract by 2.3% this year. Fast-rising joblessness, together with falling real private-sector pay and weak consumption, are squeezing tax receipts. Meanwhile rising inflation, allied to a free-falling currency, means investors demand higher returns on government debt. The result is a budgetary disaster. This year a planned primary surplus (ie, before interest payments) has vanished. Once interest payments are included, the total deficit this year is projected to be 8-9% of GDP
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
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
Frozen Conflict
IN 2007 a Russian-led polar expedition, descending through the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean in a Mir submarine, planted a titanium Russian tricolour on the sea bed 4km (2.5 miles) beneath the North Pole. “The Arctic has always been Russian,” declared Artur Chilingarov, one of the polar explorers. In the event, fears that the action would set off a scramble for Arctic territory and riches proved unfounded. Over the next few years the Arctic Council (a talking shop for governments with territories inside the Arctic Circle, and others who attend as observers) became much more influential and one of the few remaining border disputes there (between Norway and Russia) was settled.
Now Denmark has staked a claim to the North Pole, too. On December 15th it said that, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), some 900,000 square kilometres of the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland belongs to it (Greenland is a self-governing part of Denmark). The timing was happenstance. Claims under UNCLOS have to be made within ten years of ratification—and the convention became law in Denmark on December 16th 2004. But its claim conflicts with those of Russia, which has filed its own case under UNCLOS, and (almost certainly) Canada, which plans to assert sovereignty over part of the polar continental shelf (see map).
In this section
The new local
Frozen conflict
Reprints
The prize for these countries is the mineral wealth of the Arctic, which global warming may make more accessible. Temperatures in the region are rising at twice the rate of the rest of the Earth. According to the United States Geological Survey, the area has an eighth of the world’s untapped oil and perhaps a quarter of its gas.
Hitherto most people have assumed that competition to develop these resources would be gentlemanly. The Arctic, a Norwegian admiral told a big conference two years ago, is “probably the most stable area in the world”. Drilling for oil and gas there is extremely expensive, and falling oil prices have made the economics of Arctic energy even less favourable. This gives would-be prospectors an interest in co-operating, not in adding to the risks and costs.
Now Denmark has staked a claim to the North Pole, too. On December 15th it said that, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), some 900,000 square kilometres of the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland belongs to it (Greenland is a self-governing part of Denmark). The timing was happenstance. Claims under UNCLOS have to be made within ten years of ratification—and the convention became law in Denmark on December 16th 2004. But its claim conflicts with those of Russia, which has filed its own case under UNCLOS, and (almost certainly) Canada, which plans to assert sovereignty over part of the polar continental shelf (see map).
In this section
The new local
Frozen conflict
Reprints
The prize for these countries is the mineral wealth of the Arctic, which global warming may make more accessible. Temperatures in the region are rising at twice the rate of the rest of the Earth. According to the United States Geological Survey, the area has an eighth of the world’s untapped oil and perhaps a quarter of its gas.
Hitherto most people have assumed that competition to develop these resources would be gentlemanly. The Arctic, a Norwegian admiral told a big conference two years ago, is “probably the most stable area in the world”. Drilling for oil and gas there is extremely expensive, and falling oil prices have made the economics of Arctic energy even less favourable. This gives would-be prospectors an interest in co-operating, not in adding to the risks and costs.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Pope Francis to visit Cuba in September
Pope Francis will travel to Cuba in September ahead of his visit to the US, the Vatican has announced.
In a statement, it said the Pope would be in Cuba on "the invitation from the civil authorities and bishops of Cuba".
The pontiff is credited with helping bring about last December's diplomatic thaw after the decades-old enmity between communist Cuba and the US.
The US imposed had imposed a trade embargo soon after Cuba's 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.
'Warmest hospitality'
In the statement, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi did not provide details how long the Pope's visit would last.
The 78-year-old Argentine pontiff will be the third pope to travel to Cuba, following visits there by John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI four years later.
"The presence of His Holiness in Cuba will be memorable," Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said.
"He will receive the warmest hospitality of the Cuban people."
The Roman Catholic Church has maintained relations with Havana since the revolution.
It also organised a series of secret diplomatic meetings to broker the US-Cuban rapprochement. The talks directly involved Pope Francis.
The pontiff himself is no stranger to Cuba - he was there during Pope Benedict XVI's visit, the BBC's David Willey in Rome reports. He is also the author of a book on Cuba.
After Cuba, he will continue his journey to Washington, New York and Philadelphia.
He is expected to address a joint session of US Congress and will also speak at the UN.
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