Rule of Law: Guatemala's New President Surprises Critics by Defending Justice

The Pan-American Post: "A UN-backed investigation unit, set up to combat impunity rates in Guatemala, is set to stay in the country until 2015, after President Otto Perez asked for its mandate to be extended until the end of his term. The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) was set up in 2006 with some 180 international staff to help the domestic legal system investigate and prosecute criminal organizations that operate within state institutions, known as the “hidden powers.”

... Its current mandate was set to expire in September 2013, but President Otto Perez, who began his four-year term in January, requested this week that it be extended for another two years. He praised the commission’s work, and said that it was necessary to build up Guatemala’s institutions so that, when the body left, the country would have the institutional strength to cope alone." read more