Morales’ Efforts to Derail Graft Probes Provoke Guatemalans’ Wrath

Morales’ Efforts to Derail Graft Probes Provoke Guatemalans’ Wrath
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales prepares to deliver his second annual State of the Nation address to Congress, Guatemala City, Jan. 14, 2018 (AP photo by Moises Castillo).

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series about corruption in various countries around the world.

On Jan. 16, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales reshuffled his Cabinet, replacing his ministers of the economy, the environment and social development. Morales, who is halfway through his four-year term, has been plagued by his own corruption scandals after running on a campaign to clean up Guatemala, where graft is rampant. He has an approval rating of just 19 percent, according to a recent poll. In an email interview, Elizabeth Oglesby, an associate professor of Latin American studies at the University of Arizona, discusses Morales’ track record so far, his standoff with a U.N.-backed anti-corruption commission, and why corruption is still an issue that inspires Guatemalans to take to the streets.

WPR: Halfway through Morales’ first term, what is his record on the issues that drove the 2015 election, namely corruption and security?

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