The Public Ministry of Guatemala has announced that its investigations have shown that a network of illicit laundering of money and other assets operated in the port terminal.
Consideration is being given to canceling the contract with the concessionaire Container Terminal Spanish Quetzal after the denouncement that it paid bribes to Perez Molina for the award of the terminal.
Businesses are asking the Executive to reactivate the National Commission against Smuggling to protect issues such as competitiveness, intellectual property rights and the rights of consumers and entrepreneurs.
When the criminal customs fraud structure in Guatemala known as La Linea fell, the National Commission Against Contraband (Conacon) ceased to be operational.
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 government is considering purchasing food instead of fertilizers for distribution to the public if the projections of drought in the months ahead continue.
According to studies conducted by NASA, this year could see drought conditions similar to those in the last few years, therefore government officials are assessing whether to tender foods instead of fertilizers.
The government has announced preparations for the purchase of food abroad to minimize the impact that drought has had on grain crops and their prices in the local market.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) has announced that reserves established by the authorities will be sufficient to meet demand in September, but in October imports will be necessary.
The Guatemalan President lamented the existence of a legal difficulty in dismissing middle managers who benefit from the institutional protection of unions.
President Otto Perez Molina told Lahora.com.gt that "... there have been changes in personnel in strategic locations and 'its about making a change ...There are unions and workers who are already permanent, it really becomes an ordeal; I think the best thing is that control systems do not allow discretion and prevent corruption. '"
Among other criticisms it has been noted that the tax would encourage established companies to move towards informality.
The executive has rejected the proposal that individuals and organizations who operate informally pay a $20 annual tax, which was intended to expand the tax base.
According to the Guatemalan vice president, Roxana Baldetti, who proposed the tax, " ...
The Executive has proposed that individuals and business organizations that operate informally pay a single tribute of $20 a year.
The Guatemalan vice president, Roxana Baldetti proposed formalizing the informal economy through payment of a single annual tax of $20 which would apply to micro, small and medium enterprises operating in this segment of the economy.
During the first month of the intervention in customs offices improvements have been noted in customs revenue.
According to Claudia Méndez, Intendent of Customs, customs revenue rose from a daily average of $7.7 million to $8.5 million. He added that last November nearly 20,000 operational actions at the customs offices in Tecum Uman, port of Quetzal, Santo Tomas de Castilla Port and Pedro de Alvarado were carried out.
With the decreed intervention the time it takes to pass through customs has doubled and even tripled in some cases.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports: "The militarization in customs offices and the lack of staff in the Tax Authority (SAT) are delaying the passage of trucks by between three and ten days."
Added to this are technical and administrative deficiencies in the Directorate General of Customs at the Ministry of Finance of El Salvador for passage through Cuidad Pedro de Alvarado and San Cristobal.
The government wanted convenient terms in time frames, repayment schedules and interest rates, but no agreement was reached.
Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti, reported that the country has ruled out joining the initiative "which allows countries in the zone to buy oil from Venezuela on favorable terms," noted an article in Laprensagrafica.com.
During the VIII Petrocaribe Summit it was reported that the rate of interest on oil bills will be changed, increasing from between 2% to 4%.
The Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti, explained that Venezuela has modified the interest payment according to oil and oil supplies for more than a dozen Latin American countries. Guatemala's concern is so great that it no longer considers the agreement attractive and could move away from it.
The conditions in Petrocaribe will never be the same: the new government of Venezuela will change preferential credit terms for the purchase of oil.
This was explained by the Vice President of Guatemala Roxana Baldetti, who has already met with representatives of Petrocaribe. "Back then, the conditions were the sale of up to 20 thousand barrels per day, of which 40% of the value would be paid in 90 days and the remainder within 25 years, with a rate of 1%. Same as offered to Honduras, reported Laprensa.hn.
The Customs union intends to invest $2.5 million to implement the Project Paperless Customs Offices.
The initiative could reduce fraud and corruption in the country by up to 85%.According to Victor Manuel Rivera, president of the organization, when the Vice President Roxana Baldetti, as manager of the National Anti-Smuggling Unit (Conacon), authorizes the proposal, they will will have, in less than six months, the program installed in all Customs offices registered with the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT).
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