Guatemalan Bishops Call for President to Resign

Ricardo Arjona asks the President to resign

Among those to join the chorus asking for President Otto Perez Molina to resign are Guatemala's Catholic bishops. David Agren has the story for the Catholic News Service.

"Unfortunately it is evident and regrettable that large sectors of the population no longer have confidence in the president," the bishops said in an Aug. 27 statement signed by the conference president, Bishop Rodolfo Valenzuela Nunez of Vera Paz, and secretary-general, Bishop Domingo Buezo Leiva of Izabal.

"The cases of corruption involve various collaborators; the accusations against him, the resignation of members of his Cabinet have made him lose leadership and [lose] solid backing that guarantees he can continue with his mission of governing," the letter continued. "For the love of the truth and our responsibility to promote peace, we think the president should reflect in his conscience on his decision not to resign."

Andrew Chesnut and I contributed some quotes and context to the article.

President Perez has so far survived the call to resign. At this point, his fate is in the hands of Congress. They can vote to impeach him. They'll then be an investigation and most likely a move to take a vote on his removal from office. However, the commission that has been set up to investigate the President during this first phase seems not to be in a rush - four out of the five members are from Lider and the PP. General elections are called for next weekend which also make things challenging.

Finally, Ricardo Arjona has joined those Guatemalans in asking the President to resign.