TEHRAN, September 11 - Hundreds of peasant farmers and indigenous Maya blocked a major highway in Guatemala's western highlands on Monday, demanding that President Jimmy Morales reverse a policy aimed at forcing a U.N.-backed anti-graft unit to leave the country.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Groups representing the protesters said in a statement they planned more rallies over the next two days, including in capital Guatemala City, after Morales announced at the end of August that he would not renew the mandate of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
Although CICIG can operate in Guatemala until the end of next year, Morales' government applied further pressure last week by prohibiting Ivan Velasquez, the head of the investigative unit, from returning to Guatemala, for reasons of "public security."
Morales' predecessor is in prison and standing trial for running a customs racket uncovered by CICIG. Last year, the commission started investigating the current president's family for alleged corruption and supported an impeachment of Morales.
Morales, a former comedian elected in 2015, denies any wrongdoing and says the CICIG has overstepped its remit.
Protesters in the western highlands town of Solola brandished placards demanding Morales resign, broadcast images showed.
"We believe the leadership of commissioner Velasquez is important for the fight against corruption," said protester Josue Chavajay by phone.
"Guatemala has changed, it is not the same as it was three years ago (when Morales was elected)," said Chavajay.
The CICIG was formed in 2006 to help Guatemalan prosecutors break a cycle of impunity that helped organized crime penetrate government in the Central American country, and it is credited with improving the justice system.
Morales' decision to end the body's charter in Guatemala was heavily criticized by the United Nations and European countries.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations also questioned the move in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, pointing out that U.S.-donated military vehicles had appeared near the CICIG headquarters and the U.S. embassy on the day of the announcement by Morales, who spoke while flanked by soldiers.
The deployment of the vehicles "appeared intended to send a political message," said the letter, calling the move "unacceptable."
Guatemala had a series of military governments in the 1970s and 1980s, and the military remains influential in politics.
Source: Reuters
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