An article in Plazapublica.com.gt reports that "... the appointment of Ricardo Sagastume and Acisclo Valladares Urruela as Minister of Economy and Presidential Commissioner for Competitiveness, respectively, in a government that is drowning under the weight of allegations of corruption, has generated doubts and suspicions. When everyone else is leaving the ship, they are getting ready to get onboard. With a lack of coherent explanations from the Presidency and the new officials themselves, everything points to Tigo, the telephone company from which both of them come from, and a multi million dollar business deal in its favor as a result of the troubled waters in which the country finds itself. "

"... Juan Carlos Paiz, Presidential ex-commissioner of competition, said it is "strange" that the new staff members, Ricardo Sagastume and Acisclo Valladares Urruela, come from the telecommunications sector and calls attention to the fact that their arrival comes at a time when the 4G band concession, for mobile telephony with implications for Internet connection and digital television, is at stake. "It's a deal worth at least US $250 million which should be tendered so that it is available for any of the companies. It is important not to focus on a single supplier, so as to lower the price of calls," said Paiz Public Plaza."

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July 2018

A bill by the Morales administration in Guatemala proposes creating an agency that would manage issues of commercial promotion, competitiveness, investment attraction and country brand.

Representatives from the Ministry of Economy presented in Congress a proposal for a Law to create the Institute for Commercial Promotion, ProGuatemala, which would absorb the functions and staff that at the moment execute the National Program of Competitiveness.

New President in Guatemala

September 2015

With the resignation of Pérez Molina and Alejandro Maldonado sworn in as president, the institutional crisis should moderate in its intensity.

From a statement by AmCham Guatemala:

After several months of political uncertainty in Guatemala it has been demonstrated that nobody is above the law and that the country's institutions are able to perform their job.

CACIF Asks President of Guatemala to Resign

August 2015

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 :

Institutional Crisis in Guatemala

April 2015

The dismantling of a network of corruption at the highest level in the Superintendency of Tax Administration has forced an analysis of the stability of the government of Otto Perez Molina.

Calderon raises three possible scenarios:

"...First scenario: precarious balance, which means continuing the current pace of deterioration in the political system and levels of governance, and at the same time assuming an increased fragmentation of the government bloc.