A new era for Guatemala?
The resignation of Guatemala’s President Otto Pérez Molina on 3 September amid corruption allegations, three days before the staging of general elections, led to predictions of a new era of accountability and a sign that the notorious impunity afflicting the country would no longer be tolerated. It remains unlikely, however, that the winner of the 25 October presidential run-off between the victor in the first round, the ‘outsider’ and anti-establishment candidate, Jimmy Morales, and his as-yet-unde- fined rival will be able to live up to these heady expectations.
President Pérez Molina’s resignation (see box below) and the inauguration the same day of Vice-President Alejandro Maldonado as his replacement to serve out the remainder of his four-year term, ending in January 2016, was well received by the international community. The US embassy said in a 3 September statement that it would work with Maldonado and congratulated “Guatemalans and their institutions for handling the crisis peacefully”. A statement issued the same day by Luis Almagro, the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), highlighted “the example set by the people and institutions of Guatemala, who resolved their recent crisis through the institutional path and observing due process”.