Thousands march through streets calling on president of Guatemala to resign

Tens of thousands of Guatemalans took to the streets on Thursday to demand the resignation of President Otto Perez, who has refused to quit in the face of accusations by his attorney general that he was involved in a lucrative customs racket. Carrying banners proclaiming, “Guatemala has no president,” demonstrators staged marches from the capital to the regions while businesses ranging from McDonald’s restaurants to brewery Cerveceria Centro Americana closed in support of the protest.

It can’t be that he looks the other way and ignores the fact the people don’t want him any more.

One marcher, publicist Felipe Flores, 25, said of Perez.

Perez, a 64-year-old retired general, reiterated that he would not resign and pledged instead to submit to the legal process against him, which has engulfed the country in crisis just days before presidential elections due on Sept. 6. The Supreme Court of Guatemala this week accepted Attorney General Thelma Aldana’s request to impeach Perez, but it must still pass Congress to be successful.

Politics Guatemala