It's inauguration day in
Guatemala. I wasn't impressed with the two main presidential candidates and I
can't say that I'm excited to have Otto Perez Molina in charge for the next
four years given what he is alleged to have done and what he intends to do. (NPR, Bloomberg, Christian Science Monitor, Reuters, The Foundry)
On Friday morning, a
Guatemalan congressman was shot and killed blocks from
the country's congress.
Oscar
Valentin Leal Caal was elected to congress as a member of LIDER. However, just
days ago, he agreed to switch his party affiliation to Perez' Patriotic Parry
(PP). Even though President Alvaro Colom "said there was no immediate evidence the crime was linked to
congressional affairs or Perez's inauguration" his murder has led to some
speculation that he was killed because of political motivations as his party
switch wasn't official at the time of his death.
On the other hand,
according to reports, he has been getting threats since his September
reelection so it's hard to see how his switch played a role unless we know more about what has been going on behind the scenes.
The other
scenario is that he was killed for some reason related to events in Alta
Verapaz, the department which he represents in congress. It's also the
department where the government launched a state of siege in December 2010.
Roxanna Baldetti spoke to the press this morning. She says they have recovered the murder weapon, a police revolver. They also have a protected witness. Let's just
say that Leal's death was probably not a suicide. That one's been tried before.
In other news, after
President Colom says good-bye, he will try to rekindle that loving feeling with former wife Sandra
Torres. She apparently isn't going anywhere. She wants more security and the political persecution to stop. She's also
one of the favorites in 2015 in case you are looking ahead.
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