This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Guatemala’s President Otto Pérez has fired several ministers amid a growing political crisis over corruption allegations.



Guatemala on brink of crisis after vice-president falls to corruption scandal Read more

Pérez told reporters he had dismissed the interior, energy and environment ministers as well as the country’s intelligence chief and other senior officials following a string of arrests and recent mass protests in Guatemala City.

The retired army general, who has not himself been accused of corruption, said the government would work with investigators to root out abuses by public officials.

“There is an openness to investigate in any place, in any ministry,” Pérez told reporters.

In an echo of remarks by the Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, earlier in May, Pérez said he had told his ministers two weeks ago he was considering a complete reshuffle of the cabinet.

The corruption scandals have buffeted Pérez’s conservative Patriot Party ahead of presidential elections in September.

The departing interior minister, Mauricio López Bonilla, was seen as a particularly close ally of the president.

López Bonilla has been accused by local media of conflicts of interest in the awarding of government contracts, though Pérez defended him and dismissed the reports as “rumours”.

On Wednesday, Guatemala’s central bank chief, Julio Suárez, and 14 other people were arrested, accused of rigging a multimillion-dollar contract from the country’s social security institute in favour of a pharmaceutical firm.

The head of the social security institute and former private secretary to Pérez, Juan de Dios Rodríguez, is also now under arrest, the attorney general’s office said. Rodríguez was in hospital on Wednesday when the arrests took place.

Two weeks ago, Vice-President Roxana Baldetti stepped down after accusations that she had been linked to a ring accused of taking bribes to avoid customs taxes, but protests in the country of 15 million people have continued since then.

A senior government official in Guatemala, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Pérez had asked all the cabinet ministers linked to allegations of corruption to step down so the president could finish his four-year term as planned.

Pérez has repeatedly said he will serve out his term. Guatemalan law dictates that he cannot seek re-election.