Guatemala swears in new president amid corruption storm

Guatemala’s President Alejandro Maldonado stands still as Congress President Luis Rabbe pins on Maldonado’s coat jacket the presidential pin, during the impromptu presidential swearing-in ceremony before Congress in Guatemala City, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Maldonado was sworn in amid a corruption scandal that has caused a national political crisis. The conservative former judge will serve out the term of ex-President Otto Perez Molina, who resigned late Wednesday after a judge issued an order for his detention. AP Photo

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala—Guatemala’s Congress swore in former judge Alejandro Maldonado as president Thursday as his disgraced predecessor appeared in court over corruption allegations hours after resigning in the face of unprecedented protests.

Maldonado, a 79-year-old conservative who only became vice president in May, will serve out the rest of his former boss Otto Perez’s term, handing over on January 14.

READ: Guatemala president resigns amid corruption probe

The country will hold elections Sunday to choose his successor, in a climate of widespread outrage over the corruption scandal engulfing Perez and broad rejection of the traditional political elite.

“The Guatemalan people have been at the center of great moments of change and upheaval in our institutions, mobilized by their disgust with broken systems,” said Maldonado, a lawyer and former judge on the Constitutional Court, after taking the oath of office.

“The new government must emerge from the need to inspire citizens’ confidence, opening a space in public service for mature and experienced people but also young professionals and social activists.”

READ: Guatemalan Congress strips president’s immunity

Congress had earlier voted unanimously to accept Perez’s resignation, which he submitted just before midnight Wednesday after lawmakers stripped him of his presidential immunity—a first in Guatemala—and a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

As Maldonado was donning the blue-and-white presidential sash, Perez appeared before the Supreme Court, looking uncomfortable as prosecutors detailed their accusations against him.

The retired general lowered his eyes as prosecutors played out wire-tapped phone calls they say implicate him in a scheme to defraud the state.

Investigators believe the 64-year-old conservative received $3.7 million in bribes paid by importers in exchange for illegal discounts on their customs duty, said prosecutor Antonio Morales.

His former vice president Roxana Baldetti, who resigned in May, has already been charged with taking $3.8 million in bribes between May 2014 and April 2015.

Thursday’s hearing could see the fallen president remanded in custody pending trial—a decision that would in any case have automatically removed him from office under Guatemalan law.

“I’m calm and I will face the situation bravely because I’ve done nothing wrong,” Perez told a local radio station before his court appearance, where he sported a dark suit, red tie and a haggard look on his face.

‘Otto, you thief!’

The embattled president stepped down after clinging to power through months of mounting protests.

Guatemalans fed up with corruption erupted in celebration outside the Supreme Court early Thursday on the news of his resignation.

“Otto, you thief, you’re going to Pavon!” they chanted, referring to one of the country’s main prisons.

Thousands have hit the streets in protest since the scandal first erupted in April, on a scale never before seen in Guatemala.

The accusations have stoked outrage in the Central American country of 15 million people, 53.7 percent of whom live in poverty, where the scars are still fresh from a 36-year civil war that ended in 1996, and which has the dubious distinction of being one of Latin America’s most violent nations, with some 6,000 murders each year.

The scandal was uncovered by investigators from a United Nations commission tasked with fighting high-level graft in Guatemala, who say they found massive evidence that Perez orchestrated a scheme dubbed “La Linea” (The Line), named for the hotline that importers would allegedly call to access a network of corrupt officials.

Investigators say their accusations are based on 89,000 wire-tapped phone calls.

Perez, a former military intelligence officer, had been in office since 2012. He was ineligible for re-election and would have handed over power in January.

Tensions ahead of election

The climate in Guatemala is jubilant but tense heading into Sunday’s elections, which will also choose the members of the 158-seat legislature and 338 mayors.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,late Thursday called on Guatemalans “to ensure that the upcoming elections are held in a peaceful environment.”

“The Secretary-General appeals to the authorities and all sectors of society to work together in order to strengthen institutions and the rule of law in the country,” a statement from his office said.

Meanwhile, the US State Department expressed its “support for Guatemala’s democratic and constitutional institutions,” and said US leaders “stand ready to work with Vice President Maldonado in his new capacity.”

Rights groups have reported cases of political party activists attacking protesters, and some 10 candidates were murdered between March and August.

In a sign of Guatemalans’ exasperation with politics as usual, a poll published Thursday found the leading candidate in Sunday’s presidential vote is now actor Jimmy Morales, whose previously underdog campaign is his first foray into politics.

The poll gave Morales 25 percent support, ahead of the former frontrunner, right-wing lawyer Manuel Baldizon (22.9 percent), and former first lady Sandra Torres (18.4 percent).

The three candidates will likely battle it out for the two spots in a runoff on October 25.