The Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations is asking him to leave office and be accountable, preventing unnecessary institutional expense for the country.
From a statement issued by the CACIF:
The undersigned organizations, members GUATEMALA FORUM, wish to express to Otto Perez Molina :
4. Guatemalan society has expressed peacefully and orderly its demands for your resignation as President of the Republic. So have various social bodies. As the person constitutionally responsible for national unity, recognize that this united nation is today asking for your retirement from office.
The current political turmoil is threatening the implementation of important infrastructure projects such as the construction of the State Administrative Center, valued at $200 million.
The resignation of several ministers in Perez Molina's cabinet, including Sergio de la Torre, Economy Minister and Commissioner for competitiveness, Juan Carlos Paiz, both members of the board of the National Agency for the Development Partnerships Economic infrastructure (ANADIE) complicates the near future of planned projects to be developed in the form of public - private partnerships.
The Supreme Court has temporarily suspended the contract between the government and the Italian company Finmeccanica for the purchase of 19 radars.
The contract was suspended by the Third Division of Administrative Litigation of the Supreme Court (CSJ) after the Varela administration filed a lawsuit days ago and one year after stopping the execution of the project, being carried out by the company Selex, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica.
The Constitutional Court has found that the evidence presented by the prosecution is enough to have Congress to decide whether or not to remove immunity from the president.
The decision to lift the immunity of President Perez Molina so that he may face corruption charges now lies with the legislature. The component members of The Inquiry Commission will have to investigate based on the evidence presented by prosecutors, and then make a plenary decision.
In the view of the private sector the decision taken by President Perez Molina to remain in his position contributes to the further deterioration of the country's image, at a time when the economy is showing signs of stability.
Just as the decision by the Public Ministry and the International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) to conduct an investigation was applauded by the Guatemalan business sector, the president's decision to remain in office has not been well received and has caused deep concern, mainly because of the negative impact it has on the country as a destination for foreign investment.
The Public Ministry of Guatemala believes it is "likely" that President Otto Perez Molina was involved in the customs fraud network known as "La Línea" and has called for his impeachment in the Supreme Court.
The International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) and the Public Prosecutor filed a request to lift the immunity of President Otto Perez Molina and to carry out a formal investigation based on the evidence which has been gathered.
The Nicaraguan private sector is complaining about the uncertainty of the future of the hydroelectric project, valued at $1.1 billion, because of the Brazilian company Eletrobras, which is currently involved in a corruption scandal.
In the view of the private sector it is essential to know what will happen to the project in the future, but at the same time some entrepreneurs say that if in the end the dam is not built, the effects on the country's energy matrix would not be so serious. Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), commented that "... 'in Nicaragua under current conditions the country would not be majorly affected if the Tumarín project is not eventually built. The conditions have changed.'"
The government of Panama has filed a lawsuit to annul the contract for the purchase of 19 radars from the Italian company Finmeccanica and a temporary suspension while the claim is being settled.
A year after stopping the execution of the project to install radars provided by the company Selex, the Varela administration is now asking for the cancelation of this contract, arguing, among other things, that "...
The latest cases of political corruption revealed, the fiscal crisis and the poor economic situation have plunged business confidence to its lowest level since 2009.
The business sector is not only concerned about what has happened, but what could happen in the coming months, as reflected in the results of the Central Bank index which measures perceptions of economic agents regarding the business and investment climate in the country.
The CICIG has shown that in practice the private financing of candidates and political parties is anonymous, unlimited and uncontrolled, and that 25% of it comes from drug trafficking.
From the introduction of a report by the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), "FINANCING OF POLITICS IN GUATEMALA"
The relationship between money and politics is a problematic topic that has been addressed both in the field of philosophy and political science, aS well as in public debate. In the academic world, this issue has been addressed in arguments that show how detrimental it is to the social and political order that the same people and groups that concentrate economic power also concentrate political power, and therefore what is sought and prefered are institutional designs which contribute to keeping the two spheres separate. However, both in societies with consolidated democracies and countries in the process of democratizing, the decisive influence of groups with economic power has been maintained or increased.
In Panama questions have arisen about the impact that will be felt from the arrest in Brazil of Marcelo Odebrecht on the many projects awarded to his company in the country.
The arrest of Marcelo Odebrecht has generated uncertainty in important projects awarded to the Brazilian company, some of which are under implementation or have recently been awarded such as the Metro Line 2.
Following revelations about corruption at the highest level and the processing of those involved, it is unlikely that an official will request bribe money from a businessman.
EDITORIAL
Some analysts are concerned about the effect of allegations of corruption in Guatemala, noting that it will increase mistrust and the instability in economic activity, which could even have a negative effect because of the greater weight of the Guatemalan economy in Central America, over other countries in the region.
It is significant the absence of companies from countries where bribery abroad is criminalized in tenders for large scale government works in Panama.
EDITORIAL
An article in Prensa.com by Jorge Gamboa Arosemena contains the key points to analyze this issue, following the announcement of the winner of the tender for the works of Line 2 of the Panama Metro.
The Otto Perez Molina administration appears to be disintegrating in time with the successive dismantling of networks of entrenched corruption at the highest level, jeopardizing the country's basic institutions.
EDITORIAL
There are very few occasions when political parties with different ideologies and civil groups with dissimilar origins in Latin America have teamed up to denounce the same cause, as is currently happening in Guatemala.
A contract was awarded to the Swiss company Security Assistance Group, SA but it is one of the disputed contracts in the context of the corruption that has been uncovered in the country.
The contract was awarded in July 2014 and the tender was made in the form of "emergency contract".
"... This was one of the contracts challenged last week by the business sector, which demanded that the President cancel it as part of the "specific actions" needed to curb corruption. "