Otto Pérez Molina

Jimmy Morales, a former TV comic elected Guatemala's new president on a wave of public revulsion against widespread graft, took office on Jan. 14 in a ceremony attended by leaders from the Americas.

Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian who has never held office, swept to power in Guatemala's presidential election on Oct. 25 after milking public anger over a corruption scandal that deepened distrust of the country's political establishment. 

A Guatemalan court indicted former president Otto Perez on corruption charges on Sept.8, days after he resigned over a customs fraud scandal that has stoked outrage in the Central American country.
    
Judge Miguel Angel Galvez granted prosecutors' request to try Perez on charges of customs fraud, racketeering and bribery, and remanded the fallen conservative leader in custody.

Guatemala's Otto Perez resigned as president and was jailed on Sept. 3 while a judge weighs charging him in a corruption scandal that gutted his government and plunged the country into a political crisis days before a presidential election. 

A Guatemalan judge has issued an unprecedented order to detain President Otto Perez Molina in a fraud scandal that has engulfed his government, becoming the most serious blow so far against entrenched political corruption in the Central American country.

Thousands gathered in the main square of Guatemala's capital on May 30 to protest against corruption after a wave of graft scandals prompted a Cabinet shake-up and the resignation of the vice president.