GUATEMALA CITY—Guatemala’s newly sworn-in president demanded that all top government officials submit their resignations and promised an honest and inclusive administration following the surprise resignation earlier Thursday of President Otto Perez Molina amid a widening fraud investigation.
President Alejandro Maldonado reached out to protesters who took to the streets against the country’s entrenched corruption, promising he would “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.”
The unprecedented political drama played out after a week in which Perez Molina was stripped of his immunity, deserted by key members of his cabinet, and saw his jailed former vice president ordered to stand trial. All this just days before Sunday’s election to choose his successor.
As Maldonado took office, Perez Molina was in court hearing accusations that he was involved in a scheme in which businesspeople paid bribes to avoid import duties through Guatemala’s customs agency. He is the first Guatemalan president to resign.
Judge Miguel Angel Galvez ordered Perez Molina detained overnight before the hearing was to resume Friday morning. He cited a need to “ensure the continuity of the hearing” and guarantee the former president’s personal safety.
Exiting the court under police escort, Perez Molina reiterated his willingness to face the investigation head-on.
“I have always said I will respect due process,” Molina said “I do not have the slightest intention of leaving the country.”
Earlier in the day, the retired military general insisted upon his innocence in an interview with The Associated Press during a break in the court proceedings, saying the process had been “very hard, very difficult.”
He said he could have derailed the investigation, but didn’t.
“I had things I could have done,” Perez Molina said. “I could have replaced the prosecutor, I could have dug in.”
Attorney General Thelma Aldana told reporters she will ask that Perez Molina, 64, be jailed during the court proceedings.
