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Guatemalan President Perez Molina Stripped Of Immunity From Prosecution
posted (September 1, 2015)
And south of the Sarstoon, things have gotten that much more tenuous in Guatemala after that country's congress voted to withdraw President Otto Perez Molina's immunity from prosecution.

It was quite a scene outside the congress building in Guatemala City where Guatemalan civilians who want Perez Molina out, formed a wall of bodies to let lawmakers get into Congress. They formed that wall to protect the lawmakers from presidential loyalists trying to block a vote on withdrawing the President's immunity from prosecution.

105 votes or two thirds of the congress was need, but, in the end, the vote was unanimous, all 132 lawmakers who attended the session voted to strip him.

The 64 year old Pérez Molina becomes the first president to have his immunity revoked in the Guatemala's history. The vote clears the way for prosecutors to charge him with masterminding a customs fraud scheme that allowed businesses to reduce their duty by paying bribes to corrupt officials.

All this is unfolding while Guatemalan elections are set for Sunday September sixth. It is an election where the ICJ question will not be on the ballot.

Still, Perez Molina has 5 months left in office and if the prosecution succeeds, he could be removed as president. His Vice President was the first to resign as a result of the scandal.

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