GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – Otto Perez Molina spent his first night as an ex-president in military custody following a historic day in which he resigned and Guatemala’s Congress swore in Vice President Alejandro Maldonado to serve the remainder of his term.
The judge hearing a corruption and fraud investigation against Perez Molina ordered the former president held in custody until the hearing reconvened Friday morning. Perez Molina left the court under heavy police guard and was later seen entering a military barracks in the capital.
Shortly after taking the oath of office Thursday, Maldonado demanded that ministers and top officials submit their resignations so he could form a transition government and promised an honest and inclusive administration.
Reaching out to protesters who took to the streets against the country’s entrenched corruption, he vowed to leave “a legacy of honesty” and restore faith in Guatemala’s democracy in his brief few months in office.
“You can’t consider your work done,” Maldonado said in remarks aimed at all those demanding change. “In what is left of this year, there must be a positive response.”