First family arrested in Guatemala

Reuters /Luis Echeverria

On Wednesday, Guatemalan authorities arrested the brother and son of President Jimmy Morales on fraud charges.

The alleged corruption arose when the mother of Jose Manuel's then-girlfriend agreed to supply Christmas hampers to officials at the national property registry, which is being investigated for suspected graft, according to testimony given during a public hearing about the registry.

Guatemala's general property registry records land and property ownership across the country.

The woman sent the registry a bill for 90,000 quetzal ($11,936) made out in the name of a local restaurant for 564 breakfasts, not Christmas hampers, according to the attorney general.

The breakfasts were not delivered, according to statements given by a witness during the public hearing.

Sammy Morales, the president's brother, said at the time he had helped obtain the bill from the restaurant as "a favor" to his nephew, but denied it was fraudulent.

It was not clear what happened to the Christmas hampers or why the woman submitted the bill through the restaurant.

Their is no evidence that either man benefited financially from the transaction. Attorney General Thelma Aldana described the transaction as an "illicit favor." While Morales rose into office on a campaign of "Neither Corrupt Nor a Thief," I don't think that anyone really believed him. He was just a better candidate than those who stood standing following what could have become Guatemala's second spring.

We all knew that political candidates across the spectrum were different shades of corrupt. Some analysts and citizens wanted to call a timeout and postpone the elections until candidate lists could be cleaned up.

I thought that the momentum would be undermined and that it would be more effective to continue to tackle corruption once the new congress and president took office. The system was corrupt. Removing a handful of people and postponing the elections were not going to significantly solve Guatemala's problems within a few months. We've seen all the challenges involved in vetting and selecting judges. They are in it for the long-haul.

While this scandal has made international news, it seems to be pretty small potatoes compared to what else is percolating in Guatemala.