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Amid a corruption scandal that has been punctuated by daily protests in the country, Guatemala's President Otto Pérez Molina resigned and, hours later, was sent to jail to await the conclusion of a court hearing.

In a letter presented to Congress at 11:58 p.m. on Wednesday, Pérez Molina said he was resigning "in the interest of the country."


Afterward he listened in a courtroom as more than six hours of recordings were played for judges, lawyers and the media, 

. He told the reporters in attendance that he was innocent and had no intention of leaving the country, and would abide by the court.



Before his resignation on Thursday, the country's Congress had voted to strip Pérez Molina of his immunity. The country's public prosecutor 

 that the former president has been charged and an arrest warrant has been issued.


 facing charges of the same kind. Prosecutors allege she took a 50 percent cut of those bribes paid by businesses to skirt customs duties.


Pérez Molina, 64, has always maintained his innocence.

 that this case is "widely seen as an unprecedented blow against entrenched corruption and impunity in this Central American nation."
The 

 that the silence of a quiet, rainy night was broken as citizens of the city began to learn of the former president's decision.


A group of young people carrying flags, reports the paper, celebrated in front of the judicial palace. They celebrated this moment, the paper reports, as "a triumph of the people."

Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre, who took over as vice president when Baldetti was arrested, has been sworn in as president, the paper reports. The AP reports that he demanded the resignation of all top government officials.


One day after he resigned, Otto Perez heard charges read against him in Guatemala's supreme court. Prosecutors "played out wire-tapped phone calls they say implicate him in a scheme to defraud the state," according to 

Update at 7:42 a.m. ET. Cover Of Impunity Has Been Lifted: 

One of the people who turned out for the celebration on the streets of Guatemala City was Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú.


"It's important that our citizens continue this movement with courage and with deep maturity," Menchú 

, in which she called this moment Guatemala's "Great Awakening."


"Since the social movement began, it was clear it had only one objective: a resounding no to corruption. It was a no to the looting of the country and the state's coffers, something that has been going on for many years," Menchú said. "This was nothing new, but what we didn't expect was this civic example of protest by Guatemalans: their indignation never turned violent.


"What happened is that the cover of impunity — this cover that was embedded in all our institutions and was impossible to touch — was removed."  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Politics and Government News

Prosecutors charge that Pérez Molina was involved in a scheme that gave businesspeople breaks on import tariffs in exchange for bribes. Congress voted Wednesday to lift his immunity.

Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina resigns amid corruption scandal

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