Guatemala descended into a political crisis on Sunday after President Jimmy Morales expelled the United Nations-backed anti-corruption investigator Iván Velásquez, before the constitutional court blocked the expulsion order, The Guardian reported. Morales had announced the expulsion of the head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala on Sunday morning.
He also said that he had decided to sack Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales.
Jimmy Morales made the announcements less than two days after Velásquez and Attorney General Thelma Aldana asked the country’s constitutional court to strip the president of his political immunity, in order to proceed against him. The case against the president relates to the use of illegal campaign funds by his party, the National Convergence Front, in the 2015.
However, the foreign minister resigned on his own, along with the deputy foreign minister, the health minister and three deputy health minister, reported Reuters. “You have taken a position in favor of impunity and the corrupt sectors of the country, contradicting all of the statements you once made about justice and transparency,” the foreign minister said to Morales in a statement while leaving office.
Prosecutors have claimed that Morales has refused to account for more than $800,000 (Rs 5.11 crore) in campaign financing, and hidden his own party’s expenditure. Morales has denied any wrongdoing, but the constitutional court will rule on the immunity plea on Monday.
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