Guatemalans march over president’s bid to close UN anti-graft unit

GUATEMALA CITY: Thousands of Guatemalans marched Saturday against President Jimmy Morales’s bid to close a UN anti-corruption mission that sought to investigate him on suspicion of campaign finance violations.

Marchers chanted and waved banners reading “We reject the government of the corrupt” and “We are against impunity” amid rising international concern. Morales notified the UN on Monday that the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala would close early. It has been working since 2007 and has worked with the prosecutor’s office on graft and organized crime cases, among others. Morales has charged that the mission overstepped its duties. But on Wednesday, the country’s highest court stopped the ruling. The Constitutional Court ordered government authorities to tell staff and civil servants to cooperate.