GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – Guatemala’s Supreme Court has taken the first step in allowing impeachment proceedings against President Otto Perez Molina and his former Vice President Roxana Baldetti has been ordered to stand trial in a fraud case that has pushed the country into political crisis.
Analysts said Tuesday’s actions provide hope that a strong attorney general backed by an experienced international investigative commission can tackle corruption in the impoverished country.
“It’s very exciting in some ways for those who forever have been deeply concerned about corruption and the elite political class that pillages the state,” said Eric Olson, a Central America expert at the Washington-based Mexico Institute. “They got their hands caught in the cookie jar this time, and it’s pretty bad.”
Baldetti faces charges of conspiracy, customs fraud and bribery, based on allegations that she accepted $3.7 million in bribes as part of the customs scandal that forced her from office. The judge has yet to rule whether she will be jailed during the trial.
Prosecutors and the U.N. International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala requested the removal of the president’s immunity based on allegations that he too is linked to the network of officials and individuals who received bribes from businessmen to evade import duties.