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| President Otto Pérez Molina of Guatemala Resigns, Then Appears in Court | President Otto Pérez Molina of Guatemala Resigns, Then Appears in Court |
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| GUATEMALA CITY — Just hours after tendering his resignation as president of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina entered a packed courtroom on Thursday to hear accusations of corruption against him, in a dramatic validation of a growing street demonstration movement. | |
| The scene would have been unimaginable a few months ago, at the start of street protests demanding that Mr. Pérez Molina to quit over allegations of his involvement in a multimillion-dollar customs fraud scheme. Even as the demonstrations grew to include tens of thousands of Guatemalans, the president, a former general who was the military’s negotiator during talks to end of the nation’s brutal 36-year civil war, denied wrongdoing and refused to budge from office. | |
| But just before midnight Wednesday, Mr. Pérez Molina filed his resignation, saying he would “face justice and resolve my personal situation.” In the courtroom on Thursday, he listened calmly while prosecutors played wiretap recordings that they said implicated him as the leader of a vast fraud ring. | |
| Mr. Pérez Molina’s vice president, Alejandro Maldonado, was sworn in as president on Thursday afternoon, after Congress cleared the way by voting to accept the resignation. The term will end in January, with the inauguration of the winner of elections that were scheduled to begin on Sunday. | |
| Mr. Pérez Molina, 64, is the first president in Guatemalan history to resign because of corruption, experts said, offering a rare example in a region long marked by the impunity of its political class. And though the economy in Guatemala has lagged compared with other countries in Latin America, the move put it firmly within a wave of efforts elsewhere in the region to make political systems more accountable. | Mr. Pérez Molina, 64, is the first president in Guatemalan history to resign because of corruption, experts said, offering a rare example in a region long marked by the impunity of its political class. And though the economy in Guatemala has lagged compared with other countries in Latin America, the move put it firmly within a wave of efforts elsewhere in the region to make political systems more accountable. |
| That peaceful protests have managed to oust a powerful leader who many say was connected to the dark history of the war, in which a United Nations panel concluded that the government was behind the majority of the 200,000 deaths in the conflict, has left those outside and within Guatemala stunned. Even before sunrise, protesters were starting to gather in the Plaza Central of Guatemala City, the nerve center for the widespread protests that started in April. | That peaceful protests have managed to oust a powerful leader who many say was connected to the dark history of the war, in which a United Nations panel concluded that the government was behind the majority of the 200,000 deaths in the conflict, has left those outside and within Guatemala stunned. Even before sunrise, protesters were starting to gather in the Plaza Central of Guatemala City, the nerve center for the widespread protests that started in April. |
| But major questions loom for the country. Before the seismic challenge of transitioning from a system of impunity to one responsive to its people lies a more immediate one: Sunday’s election to replace Mr. Pérez Molina. | But major questions loom for the country. Before the seismic challenge of transitioning from a system of impunity to one responsive to its people lies a more immediate one: Sunday’s election to replace Mr. Pérez Molina. |
| The president’s sudden departure leaves almost no time under the current schedule to enact serious reforms before the ball is set in motion for the next government. And the candidates for president were fielded in a world fundamentally different from the one that Guatemalans woke to on Thursday. | The president’s sudden departure leaves almost no time under the current schedule to enact serious reforms before the ball is set in motion for the next government. And the candidates for president were fielded in a world fundamentally different from the one that Guatemalans woke to on Thursday. |
| “At their finest moment, Guatemalans are faced with this really difficult choice between candidates who may not lead to the kinds of changes that people have been fighting for,” said Eric L. Olson, a scholar at the Mexico Institute of the Wilson Center. “It’s one thing to want a corrupt government out and another thing to move toward another form of government.” | “At their finest moment, Guatemalans are faced with this really difficult choice between candidates who may not lead to the kinds of changes that people have been fighting for,” said Eric L. Olson, a scholar at the Mexico Institute of the Wilson Center. “It’s one thing to want a corrupt government out and another thing to move toward another form of government.” |
| The political convulsions in Guatemala are part of a broader realignment underway in Latin America, though one that has been distinct country by country. In recent years, important protest movements have cropped up in Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and elsewhere. | The political convulsions in Guatemala are part of a broader realignment underway in Latin America, though one that has been distinct country by country. In recent years, important protest movements have cropped up in Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and elsewhere. |
| But given Guatemala’s tragic history, the shifts there were already being seen as a dramatic example of change against long odds. In neighboring Honduras, for instance, large protests have also ignited a debate about whether to adopt a model similar to Guatemala’s, in which an international team of investigators has been deployed to bolster the nation’s law enforcement capacity. | But given Guatemala’s tragic history, the shifts there were already being seen as a dramatic example of change against long odds. In neighboring Honduras, for instance, large protests have also ignited a debate about whether to adopt a model similar to Guatemala’s, in which an international team of investigators has been deployed to bolster the nation’s law enforcement capacity. |
| The resignation is the culmination of months of protests that drew tens of thousands into the street, estimated to peak at around 100,000 in the past week. They were reacting to a fraud case in which millions of dollars was said to have been siphoned from customs revenue and contracts, even while Guatemalans suffered in hospitals without medicine and police forces did not even have enough fuel to report to crime scenes. | The resignation is the culmination of months of protests that drew tens of thousands into the street, estimated to peak at around 100,000 in the past week. They were reacting to a fraud case in which millions of dollars was said to have been siphoned from customs revenue and contracts, even while Guatemalans suffered in hospitals without medicine and police forces did not even have enough fuel to report to crime scenes. |
| Since April, when prosecutors and the United Nations-backed investigative body first unveiled the customs fraud, a “Who’s Who” of the nation’s political elite have been implicated in a series of scandals, including the central bank president, a former energy minister and the president’s son-in-law. The former vice president is in prison. | Since April, when prosecutors and the United Nations-backed investigative body first unveiled the customs fraud, a “Who’s Who” of the nation’s political elite have been implicated in a series of scandals, including the central bank president, a former energy minister and the president’s son-in-law. The former vice president is in prison. |
| Driving much of the public rage has been a series of investigations by an uncommon alliance of local prosecutors and the team of investigators backed by the United Nations, known as the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, or its Spanish language acronym Cicig. | Driving much of the public rage has been a series of investigations by an uncommon alliance of local prosecutors and the team of investigators backed by the United Nations, known as the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, or its Spanish language acronym Cicig. |
| Originally stationed in the country in 2007 to help root out the nation’s notorious criminal-political networks, the commission has emboldened the nation’s own prosecutors to take on the rich and powerful elite and become a source of inspiration and hope for many Guatemalans. But that has also meant that the commission is seen as inextricably linked to the nation’s recent successes, raising questions about what will happen with the nation’s own law enforcement system if and when Cicig departs. | Originally stationed in the country in 2007 to help root out the nation’s notorious criminal-political networks, the commission has emboldened the nation’s own prosecutors to take on the rich and powerful elite and become a source of inspiration and hope for many Guatemalans. But that has also meant that the commission is seen as inextricably linked to the nation’s recent successes, raising questions about what will happen with the nation’s own law enforcement system if and when Cicig departs. |
| “I think it’s always something that one has to be vigilant about,” Mr. Olson said. “It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that a new president may try to impose a new attorney general and return to the status quo.” | “I think it’s always something that one has to be vigilant about,” Mr. Olson said. “It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that a new president may try to impose a new attorney general and return to the status quo.” |
| For much of its history, Guatemalan society has been somewhat fractious, its different constituencies fighting their own battles alone. The nation’s indigenous population, which suffered the most under the civil war, has long fought for equal rights with little success. | For much of its history, Guatemalan society has been somewhat fractious, its different constituencies fighting their own battles alone. The nation’s indigenous population, which suffered the most under the civil war, has long fought for equal rights with little success. |
| But the movement that began in April has forged an unprecedented alliance of different groups. Guatemala City’s middle class, long reluctant to speak out after the deadly suppression of the civil war, began joining forces with peasant and indigenous groups. Eventually, the nation’s church and business leaders also joined sides with the protesters to demand change. | But the movement that began in April has forged an unprecedented alliance of different groups. Guatemala City’s middle class, long reluctant to speak out after the deadly suppression of the civil war, began joining forces with peasant and indigenous groups. Eventually, the nation’s church and business leaders also joined sides with the protesters to demand change. |
| The final unraveling for Mr. Pérez Molina’s tenure appeared to be two weeks ago, when the Cicig’s commissioner and the Guatemalan attorney general called a news conference in which they accused the president of being the ring leader of the customs fraud. Prosecutors and investigators had amassed wire taps and other records pointing to his involvement, they said, in an announcement that reinvigorated the protests and led congress to strip the president’s immunity from prosecution this week. | The final unraveling for Mr. Pérez Molina’s tenure appeared to be two weeks ago, when the Cicig’s commissioner and the Guatemalan attorney general called a news conference in which they accused the president of being the ring leader of the customs fraud. Prosecutors and investigators had amassed wire taps and other records pointing to his involvement, they said, in an announcement that reinvigorated the protests and led congress to strip the president’s immunity from prosecution this week. |
| Now, as the nation finds itself in the grips of the change it has demanded for months, the elections loom. Civic groups and academics had proposed postponing the vote to allow time for electoral reforms but were blocked by the electoral tribunal. The American Embassy in Guatemala, for its part, has said it would like to see the elections held on time. | Now, as the nation finds itself in the grips of the change it has demanded for months, the elections loom. Civic groups and academics had proposed postponing the vote to allow time for electoral reforms but were blocked by the electoral tribunal. The American Embassy in Guatemala, for its part, has said it would like to see the elections held on time. |
| None of the candidates had been expected to win 50 percent or more of the vote, making it likely to go to runoff election, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 25. | None of the candidates had been expected to win 50 percent or more of the vote, making it likely to go to runoff election, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 25. |
| Protesters, however, have not been happy about the roster of candidates that awaits. The leading candidate, Manuel Baldizón, a wealthy businessman, is widely seen as part of the same corrupt political system. His vice-presidential candidate faces charges in a separate corruption case, and Mr. Baldizón’s party had maintained a close alliance with Mr. Pérez Molina and his party. | Protesters, however, have not been happy about the roster of candidates that awaits. The leading candidate, Manuel Baldizón, a wealthy businessman, is widely seen as part of the same corrupt political system. His vice-presidential candidate faces charges in a separate corruption case, and Mr. Baldizón’s party had maintained a close alliance with Mr. Pérez Molina and his party. |
| The other leading candidates are the comedian Jimmy Morales, who has moved up in the polls because he is seen as outsider, and Sandra Torres, a former first lady. | The other leading candidates are the comedian Jimmy Morales, who has moved up in the polls because he is seen as outsider, and Sandra Torres, a former first lady. |