Otto Perez Molina

The results of recent elections in Latin America raise key questions for the United States and the region at large.

Now that former comedian Jimmy Morales has ridden a tide of voter frustration to win Guatemala’s presidency, it remained unclear Monday about what political neophyte might do once in office.

Popular discontent has been simmering away in parts of Central America for some time, and now it’s finally boiling over.

Otto Perez Molina was headed back to court on Friday after spending his first night as an ex-president in military custody. Perez Molina’s jailing followed a historic day in which he resigned and Guatemala’s Congress swore in Vice President Alejandro Maldonado to serve the remainder of his term.

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina has resigned in the face of a corruption scandal that has brought his government to the brink