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.
President Perez Molina has announced he will be making a request to extend until 2017 the mandate of the International Commission Against Impunity in the country.
From a statement issued by the Government of Guatemala:
President Otto Perez Molina has announced the decision of his government to ask the United Nations for a new mandate of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) so that it will continue in office until 2017.
The dismantling of the network of corruption at the highest level of the taxation system shows the validity and the necessity that Central America has for having bodies such as the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala.
EDITORIAL
Guatemalan business leaders have been talking about the matter, after the release of the CICIG updates which shed light on a group of criminals who, from the highest level of customs administration, engineered smuggling and tax fraud in the country. See: "Customs Fraud Network in Guatemala".
Arrests have been made of Omar Franco Alvaro Chacón, head of the Superintendency of Tax Administration and Carlos Enrique Muñoz Roldán, former head the SAT, and 19 other senior officials, employees and individuals.
From a statement issued by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG):
Conrado Reyes was elected as Guatemala’s Attorney General by the deans of 9 law schools and the chief of the Supreme Court; his designation was annulled after 17 days in office.
An article by Tim Johnson in the Miami Herald describes how the country’s fragile democracy “nearly went narco”.
The United Nations designated Costa Rican Attorney General Francisco Dall’ Anesse Ruiz as the new head of the Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
Dall’ Anesse has been the Attorney General in Costa Rica since 2003, and has not formally accepted the position yet.
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