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GUATEMALAN EX-PRESIDENT ALFONSO PORTILLO FLEES AS HIS CABINET FACES CHARGES.

Article Excerpt
Stripped of his mantle of immunity from prosecution (see NotiCen, 2004-02-19), Alfonso Portillo, erstwhile president of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004, has fled the country. His hasty exit coincides with revelations of scams and malfeasance allegedly perpetrated by several officials within the Frente Republicano Guatemalteco (FRG).

Scarcely one month into his ex-presidency, "the lid has started to come off the abuses, injustices, and lack of respect for the rule of law that they committed," said Marco Antonio Barahona, political analyst for the Asociacion de Investigacion y Estudios Sociales (ASIES).

Among the accused ex-officials cum perpetrators are:

* Byron Barrientos. The former minister of government is accused of having diverted about US$11 million from the ministry. He is currently free on bail. Former vice ministers Luis Garcia and Alberto Davila are thought to have been involved and to have fled.

* Manuel Maza. The ex-minister of finance has been linked to the fraudulent manipulation of funds to the now defunct Promotor and Metropolitano banks. The amounts are said to approach US$190 million. He is also accused of complicity in a multimillion-dollar fraud within the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure, and Housing.

* Luis Rabbe. This former communications minister allegedly, in cooperation with Maza, defrauded the...

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