Otto Pérez Molina To Be Sworn in as President of Guatemala

Otto Pérez Molina will be sworn in today in as the President of Guatemala. He promises to crack down on crime and take on the Mexican drug cartels that are controlling parts of the country.

Pérez is also looking to overturn the ban on U.S. military aid to Guatemala. It is currently only allowed to receive aid for training. The aid is desperately needed since the Zetas and Sinaloa cartels have been active in about a third of Guatemalan territory. Last week, InSight reported that the Sinaloa cartel has shifted its methamphetamine production from Mexico to Guatemala. With corrupt police, a weak judiciary and rampant poverty, Guatemala has been an easy place to set up shop.

The Carter administration cut off military aid in 1977 because of human rights violations committed by the Guatemalan military during the civil war. Pérez was one of the top army officers during the worst years of the war and has himself been accused of committing war crimes in Quiche.

Photo: Pérez at an airstrip in Quiche in 1982 during the civil war.
Prensa Libre

To read more:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-14/perez-takes-guatemalan-presidency-as-investors-back-iron-fist-.html

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