(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Guatemala's minister of energy and mines, Erick Archila, resigned Friday amid accusations of corruption.
Archila's resignation also implies he will leave his post as president of the National Electrification Institute. At a press conference Friday morning, he blamed political persecution.
"I made every effort to meet the goals and objectives in the areas of energy, hydrocarbons and mining, aware that there is much left to do," he said in his letter of resignation to President Otto Pérez Molina.
Archila, also the owner of television and print media outlets, has faced accusations of corruption by opposition party congressional representatives as well as community groups since last year. Irregularities in the approval of a pre-feasibility study for the Xalala hydro-electric dam led to demands for investigations and the possible removal of Archila's immunity.
"It's an issue that is under investigation by the National Comptroller's Office," UNE opposition party congressman Carlos Barreda told the online news outlet República.
In another corruption scandal that continues to rock the Central American nation, high-level government officials, judges and lawyers are implicated in a criminal network that has defrauded the state of customs revenue.
Wiretap evidence that surfaced after the initial arrest of 20 individuals last month led to widespread speculation about the involvement of Pérez Molina and then vice president Roxana Baldetti.
Baldetti resigned May 8 and Alejandro Maldonado was sworn in as vice president Thursday, but it did little to appease public indignation.
Demonstrations, marches and highway blockades have been conducted nationwide in the past three weeks.
A massive rally demanding Pérez Molina's resignation is scheduled for Saturday in Guatemala City with simultaneous actions planned in at least eight other regions of the country.
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