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Guatemala: Molina refuses to quit despite calls for impeachment

GUATEMALAN President Otto Perez Molina refused to resign over corruption allegations yesterday despite calls for his impeachment.

Demonstrators gathered outside the presidential palace in Guatemala City on Sunday night, calling on the Patriotic Party leader to step down.

Seven members of Mr Perez’s cabinet had resigned over the previous 24 hours.

But in a defiant televised address, Mr Perez said he wouldn’t quit despite allegations of involvement in a customs fraud scandal that has thrown the country into political crisis.

However, he apologised to Guatemalans for the corruption that has wracked his administration.

Hours earlier former vice-president Roxana Baldetti was arrested on charges of involvement in the customs fraud network known as La Linea.

Ms Baldetti resigned on May 8 after she was accused of embezzlement.

Documents released by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) revealed a “close relationship” between Ms Baldetti and Mr Perez and evidence of the president’s involvement in La Linea.

But Mr Perez referred to CICIG in his address, calling it “a (foreign) interventionist strategy which aims at telling us what to do.”

Even traditional allies of the right such as the Chamber of Commerce and Archbishop of Guatemala Oscar Julio Vian Morales have called on the president to go.

Earlier on Sunday Mr Vian Morales urged Mr Perez to listen to the overwhelming majority of Guatemalans calling for his resignation.

Following the speech social movements, student organisations and NGOs announced a new round of protests for today, while the #YoNoTengoPresidente (I have no president) hashtag surged in popularity on social media.

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