Otto Pérez Molina

Pérez is a graduate of Guatemala's National Military Academy (Escuela Politécnica),{{cite web |url=http://www.partidopatriota.com.gt/2010/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=110 |title=Otto Pérez Molina |access-date=2010-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101107082558/http://www.partidopatriota.com.gt/2010/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=110 |archive-date=7 November 2010 |df=dmy-all }}. partidopatriota.com.gt the School of the Americas,{{cite web|url=http://www.derechos.org/soa/guat-not.html |title=Notorious Guatemalan School of the Americas Graduates |publisher=Derechos.org |access-date=13 September 2011}} and of the Inter-American Defense College.{{cite web|url=http://www.europapress.es/noticia.aspx?cod=20070908101612&ch=69 |title=Apoyo Crónica Guatemala.- Otto Pérez Molina, el general retirado que apuesta por "mano dura" para resolver los problemas. |publisher=Europapress.es |date=8 September 2007 |access-date=13 September 2011 |language=es}}

He has served as Guatemala's Director of Military Intelligence{{cite web | url=http://www.ghrc-usa.org/Resources/2011/War_Crimes/UN_letter_PerezMolina.htm | title=ALLEGATION LETTER | publisher=Guatemala Human Rights Commission | date=6 July 2011 | access-date=3 September 2015}} and as inspector-general of the army.{{cite web | url=http://www.weforum.org/contributors/otto-perez-molina | title=Otto Perez Molina | publisher=World Economic Forum | access-date=3 September 2015}} In 1983, he was a member of the group of army officers who backed Defence Minister Óscar Mejía's coup d'état against de facto president Efraín Ríos Montt.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19635974 | title=Guatemala profile - Leaders | work=BBC News | date=27 August 2015 | access-date=3 September 2015 | archive-date=8 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908050136/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19635974 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}

While serving as chief of military intelligence in 1993, he was instrumental in forcing the departure of President Jorge Serrano. The president had attempted a "self-coup" by dissolving Congress and appointing new members to the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia). (See 1993 Guatemalan constitutional crisis.){{cite web|url=http://www.cidob.org/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_central_y_caribe/guatemala/jorge_serrano_elias|title=Jorge Serrano Elias|work=CIDOB|date=14 January 1991 }}

In the wake of that event, Guatemala's human rights ombudsman, Ramiro de León Carpio, succeeded as president, according to the constitution. He appointed Pérez as his presidential chief of staff, a position he held until 1995. Considered a leader of the Guatemalan Army faction that favored a negotiated resolution of the 30-year-long Guatemalan Civil War,{{Cite web|url=http://www.tulane.edu/~libweb/RESTRICTED/CERIGUA/1994_0221.txt|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042203/http://www.tulane.edu/~libweb/RESTRICTED/CERIGUA/1994_0221.txt|url-status=dead|title=CERIGUA Weekly Briefs, Feb. 21, 1994|archivedate=4 March 2016|accessdate=11 February 2021}} Pérez represented the military in the negotiations with guerrilla forces. They achieved the 1996 Peace Accords.{{Cite web| title=Peace Agreements Digital Collection | url=http://www.usip.org/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/guat_961229.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715142822/http://www.usip.org/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/guat_961229.pdf | archive-date=2009-07-15}}

Between 1998 and 2000, Pérez represented Guatemala on the Inter-American Defense Board.

In February 2001, he founded the Patriotic Party.{{cite web | url=https://news.yahoo.com/otto-perez-guatemalas-fallen-crime-fighter-145013109.html | title=Otto Perez, Guatemala's fallen crime-fighter | publisher=Yahoo! News | date=3 September 2015 | access-date=3 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022065419/http://news.yahoo.com/otto-perez-guatemalas-fallen-crime-fighter-145013109.html | archive-date=22 October 2015 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }} In the 2003 general election on 9 November 2003, Pérez was elected to Congress.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/opinion/praise-for-guatemalas-president.html | title=Praise for Guatemala's President | work=The New York Times | date=17 May 2013 | access-date=3 September 2015}}

He was the candidate of the Patriotic Party in the 2007 presidential election, campaigning under the slogan "Mano dura, cabeza y corazón" ("Firm hand, head and heart"), advocating a hard-line approach to rising crime in the country. After receiving the second-largest number of votes in the initial contest on 9 September, he lost the election to Álvaro Colom of the National Unity of Hope in the second round on 4 November 2007.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6986834.stm |title=Guatemala heads for run-off vote |work=BBC News |date=10 September 2007 |access-date=13 September 2011}}

During the 2007 presidential campaign, several members of the Patriotic Party were killed by armed assailants. Victims included Aura Marina Salazar Cutzal, an indigenous woman who was secretary to the party's congressional delegation and an assistant to Pérez.[http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20071009/actualidad/44459/ Matan a secretaria de Pérez Molina y a guardia de la SAAS | elPeriódico de Guatemala] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717060234/http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20071009/actualidad/44459/ |date=17 July 2011 }}. Elperiodico.com.gt. Retrieved 15 January 2012.[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/08/america/LA-GEN-Guatemala-Election-Violence.php The New York Times]. International Herald Tribune (29 March 2009). Retrieved 15 January 2012.

Pérez was finally elected in the November 2011 presidential election with 54% of the vote and took office on 14 January 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57319423/ex-general-wins-guatemalan-presidential-election/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108091617/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57319423/ex-general-wins-guatemalan-presidential-election/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 November 2011 |title=Ex-general wins Guatemalan presidential election |publisher=CBS News |date=6 November 2011 |access-date=6 November 2011}} Pérez was the first former military official to be elected to the presidency since Guatemala's return to democratic elections in 1986.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-15619168 | title=Profile: Guatemala President Otto Perez Molina | work=BBC News | date=15 January 2012 | access-date=3 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908182012/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-15619168 | archive-date=8 September 2015 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}

He proposed the legalization of drugs when he first became president while attending the United Nations General Assembly,{{cite web|url=http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/09/27/guatemalan-president-argues-drug-legalization-and-calls-out-us-anti-drug-effort/|title=Guatemalan President Argues Drug Legalization and Calls Out US Anti-Drug Effort|author=Bryan Llenas|work=Fox News Latino|date=10 September 2022 }} as he said that the War on Drugs has proven to be a failure.{{cite news |title=The summit of muted intentions |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=31 March 2013 |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/03/2012327125714281880.html}}

{{see also|La Linea corruption case}}

In April 2015, international prosecutors, with help from the UN, presented evidence of a customs corruption ring ("La Línea") in which discounted tariffs were exchanged for bribes from importers; prosecutors learned of the call through wiretaps and financial statements.{{Cite news|title = President Otto Pérez Molina of Guatemala Resigns Amid Scandal |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/world/americas/otto-perez-molina-guatemalan-president-resigns-amid-scandal.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 3 September 2015|first = Elisabeth|last = Malkin}} Vice President Roxana Baldetti resigned on 8 May and was arrested for her involvement on 21 August.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-34022095|title=Guatemala: ex-Vice-President Baldetti held on fraud charges|publisher=BBC|date=21 August 2015}} On 21 August, Guatemalan prosecutors presented evidence of Pérez's participation in the corruption ring. Congress, in a 132–0 vote, stripped Pérez Molina of prosecutorial immunity on 1 September 2015, and he presented his resignation from the Presidency on 2 September.

On 3 September, after a court hearing in which charges and evidence against him were presented, he was arrested and sent to the Matamoros prison in Guatemala City. Vice President Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre was appointed to serve the remainder of Pérez's 4-year term in office (due to end on 14 January 2016).{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/09/03/guatemalan-president-resigns-after-judge-orders-him-to-face-corruption-charges/|title=Guatemalan president resigns after judge orders him to face corruption charges|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=3 September 2015|last=Miller|first=Michael E.}}

On 27 October 2017,{{cite web| url = https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/guatemala-judge-orders-president-corruption-50773667| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171028020210/http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/guatemala-judge-orders-president-corruption-50773667| archive-date = 2017-10-28| title = Guatemala judge orders former president tried for corruption - ABC News| website = ABC News}} Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez of Guatemala City ordered Pérez, Baldetti, and another 26 people, including former senior officials from Guatemala's customs duty system, to stand trial on charges related to bribes channeled to officials helping businesses evade customs duties and Pérez has remained in custody since his 2015 arrest. In May 2021, one of the five corruption and money laundering charges against Pérez was dropped, though it was also agreed that Pérez would still be detained in a military base prison.

On 18 January 2022, Pérez's corruption trial officially began.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/08/americas/haiti-assassination-investigation-prime-minister-intl-cmd-latam/index.html|title=Comienza juicio contra el expresidente Otto Pérez Molina y la exvicepresidenta Roxana Baldetti en Guatemala|first=Michelle|last=Mendoza|publisher=CNN en Español|date=18 January 2022}} Baldetti, who was previously convicted in another "La Linea" related trial, was named as his co-defendant.

On 7 December 2022, Pérez, along with Baldetti, was sentenced to 16 years in prison.{{Cite news |last=Menchu |first=Sofia |date=2022-12-08 |title=Guatemala court sentences ex-President Perez, ex-VP in graft case |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/guatemala-court-convicts-ex-president-perez-ex-vp-graft-case-2022-12-07/ |access-date=2023-07-18}}

On 7 September 2023, Perez was sentenced to an additional sentence of eight years in prison after pleading guilty to charges in a separate corruption case. However, the presiding judge also ruled that the sentence could be commuted through payment, with Pérez then making payment in November 2023.

On 4 January 2024, Pérez was released from a prison, where he remained since his 2015 arrest, after posting a bond of more than 10.3 million quetzales. Among the other conditions for his release was an agreement that he would not leave Guatemala and also would check with prosecutors every 30 days. On 7 January, Otto Pérez Lea, son of Pérez, shared a video on Instagram featuring him and his father. In the video, Pérez expressed his appreciation for the support and prayers he had received while imprisoned. He also stated that he never had the intention to "run away" from the country following his resignation from the presidency in 2015.{{Cite web |title="Nunca pensé en huir", Otto Pérez Molina rompe el silencio en casa junto a su hijo |url=https://www.soy502.com/articulo/nunca-pense-huir-otto-perez-rompe-silencio-junto-hijo-101835 |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=www.soy502.com |language=es}}

In 2011, reports were made, based on the United States' National Security Archives, that Pérez was involved in the scorched earth campaigns of the 1980s under the military dictator Efraín Ríos Montt.{{cite web |url=http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/otto-perez-molina-guatemalan-president-elect-with-%E2%80%9Cblood-on-his-hands%E2%80%9D/|title= Otto Pérez Molina, Guatemalan President-Elect, with "Blood on his hands"|author= Emily Willard |date=14 November 2011 |publisher= The National Security Archives |access-date=16 January 2012}} Pérez commanded a counterinsurgency team in the Ixil Community in 1982-3 and is accused of ordering the mass murder of civilians, destruction of villages, and resettlement of the remaining population in army-controlled areas.{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-guatemala-perez-f-idUSTRE7AA38320111111|author= Mica Rosenberg and Mike McDonald |title= New Guatemala leader faces questions about past |date=11 November 2011 |work= Reuters |access-date=16 January 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ghrc-usa.org/Resources/2011/elections.htm|title= Guatemala Human Rights Commission |date=27 September 2011 |publisher= Guatemala Human Rights Commission |access-date=16 January 2012}} Investigative journalist Allan Nairn interviewed Pérez Molina in Ixil in 1982 and reported that Pérez Molina had been involved in the torture and murder of four suspected guerrillas.{{cite web |title=Exclusive: Allan Nairn Exposes Role of U.S. and New Guatemalan President in Indigenous Massacres |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/19/exclusive_allan_nairn_exposes_role_of |publisher=Democracy Now! |date=19 April 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.plazapublica.com.gt/content/witness-who-would-have-accused-us-and-perez-molina|title=The witness who would have accused the US and Pérez Molina|author=Louisa Reynolds|date=May 22, 2013|publisher=Plaza Publica|access-date=2015-09-09}}

In July 2011, the indigenous organization Waqib Kej presented a letter to the United Nations accusing Pérez of involvement in genocide and torture committed in Quiché during the civil war.{{cite web |url=http://ghrc-usa.org/Resources/2011/War_Crimes/UN_letter_PerezMolina.htm |title= Allegation Letter sent to UN |date=6 July 2011 |publisher= Guatemala Human Rights Commission |access-date=16 January 2012}}{{cite web |url= http://eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/07/21/in_guatemala_troubles_ahead_and_troubles_behind |title= In Guatemala, troubles ahead and troubles behind |author= Ian Bremmer |date= 21 July 2011 |work= Foreign Policy |access-date= 23 July 2011 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110726055050/http://eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/07/21/in_guatemala_troubles_ahead_and_troubles_behind |archive-date= 26 July 2011 |df= dmy-all }}{{cite web |url=http://www.europapress.es/latam/guatemala/noticia-guatemala-denuncian-candidato-perez-molina-genocidio-tortura-indigenas-guatemala-20110720220454.html |title= Denuncian a Pérez Molina por genocidio y tortura de indígenas en Guatemala |language=es |date=20 July 2011 |publisher= Europa Press |access-date=16 January 2012}} Among other evidence, they cited a 1982 documentary in which a military officer whom they claim is Pérez is seen near four dead bodies. In the following scene, a subordinate says that those four were captured alive and taken "to the Major" (allegedly Pérez) and that "they wouldn't talk, not when we asked nicely and not when we were mean [ni por las buenas ni por las malas]."{{cite web|url=http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20110707/pais/197814|title=Harbury pide a relator de ONU que investigue a Pérez|author=Asier Andrés|date=7 July 2011|publisher=El Periodico de Guatemala|access-date=16 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609190418/http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20110707/pais/197814/|archive-date=9 June 2012|df=dmy-all}}

Although it is clear that Pérez Molina actively participated in a foul counterinsurgency campaign, he has denied any involvement in atrocities. Declassified US documents present him as one of the more progressive Guatemalan military officers who had a hand in the downfall of General Ríos Montt.{{cite web|url=http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/11/11/Perez.pdf|title=REMAKING MAJOR TITO INTO PRESIDENT PEREZ|work=Reuters|author= MICA ROSENBERG AND MIKE MCDONALD|access-date=5 September 2015}}

In 1992, the guerrilla leader Efraín Bámaca Velásquez disappeared. His wife, American lawyer Jennifer Harbury, has presented evidence that Pérez, who was Director of Military Intelligence at the time, probably issued the orders to detain and torture the commandant.{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203716204577018323303845372 |title= Portrait of a General: Timeline of General Otto Perez Molina |author= Interactive graphic |date= 5 November 2011 |work= The Wall Street Journal |access-date=16 January 2012}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tHNSmvfXBI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/_tHNSmvfXBI |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title= Youtube interview with Jennifer Harbury |author= Democracy Now! |date=17 September 2011 |publisher= YouTube |access-date=17 September 2011}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2011/9/15/genocide_linked_general_otto_prez_molina|title= Genocide-Linked General Otto Pérez Molina Poised to Become Guatemala's Next President |author= Amy Goodman |date=17 September 2011 |publisher= Democracy Now! |access-date=17 September 2011}}

In 2011, he became the subject of a new investigation into the disappearance of Bámaca.{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204505304577000070058269822 |author= Nicolas Casey |title= Raging Drug War Boosts Controversial Ex-General |date=5 November 2011 |work= The Wall Street Journal |access-date=16 January 2012}}

In his book The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? American journalist Francisco Goldman argues that Pérez Molina may have been present, along with two other high officials, a few blocks from the April 1998 murder of Juan José Gerardi Conedera, a Roman Catholic bishop.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gS85Xzc3CB4C&q=The+Art+of+Political+Murder:+Who+Killed+the+Bishop | title=The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? | author=Goldman, Francisco | date=16 September 2008 | pages=306| publisher=Grove/Atlantic | isbn=9781555846374 }} Prosecutors in the subsequent trial said that Pérez and the other two men were there to supervise the assassination.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gS85Xzc3CB4C&q=The+Art+of+Political+Murder:+Who+Killed+the+Bishop | title=The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? | author=Goldman, Francisco | date=16 September 2008 | pages=243| publisher=Grove/Atlantic | isbn=9781555846374 }} Gerardi was murdered two days after the release of a human rights report he helped prepare for the United Nations' Historical Clarification Commission.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/novelist-and-murderers|title= The Novelist and the Murderers|author= Nathaniel Popper |date=7 July 2008 |magazine= The Nation |access-date=16 January 2012}}

Pérez is married to Rosa María Leal.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

On 21 February 2000, shortly before Pérez planned to launch his new political party, his daughter Lissette was attacked by a gunman. The same day, a woman named Patricia Castellanos Fuentes de Aguilar was shot and killed after meeting with Pérez's wife, Rosa María Leal. On 11 November 2000, Pérez's son, Otto Pérez Leal, was attacked while driving; Pérez Leal's wife and infant daughter were also in the vehicle. Human rights groups{{which|date=September 2015}} said that the attacks were politically motivated.U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 4 March 2002

[https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/wha/8344.htm Guatemala]. State.gov (4 March 2002). Retrieved 15 January 2012.[https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18333.htm Guatemala]. State.gov (31 March 2003). Retrieved 15 January 2012.

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.partidopatriota.com/index.php?option=com Otto Pérez Molina: Patriotic Party profile]
• [http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_central_y_caribe/guatemala/otto_perez_molina Biography by CIDOB] {{in lang|es}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110720010647/http://www.rightsaction.org/articles/US_glosses_over_PerezMolina_050211.html US Government Glosses Over War Crime Accusations Against Leading Guatemalan Presidential Candidate]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110629063118/http://www.soaw.org/about-the-soawhinsec/soawhinsec-grads/notorious-grads/239 Notorious Graduates (of the School of the Americas) from Guatemala]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111013231301/http://soaw.org/about-the-soawhinsec/13-soawhinsec-graduates/3011 Guatemalan Election Marred by Violence]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110727230558/http://www.lawg.org/action-center/lawg-blog/69-general/847-guatemala-six-months-to-examine-the-past-and-define-the-future Guatemala: Six Months to Examine the Past and Define the Future]
• Guatemala (1983 documentary): Parts [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q5xpEjP3Hc 1], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub2W7nIN1t4 2], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7znfz6huz0Y 3], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi1Jk9XzU3w 4], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODyhUo3_1vc 5]

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{{s-bef|before=Álvaro Colom}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of Guatemala|years=2012–2015}}

{{s-aft|after=Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre
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{{GuatemalaPres}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez Molina, Otto}}

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