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LatinNews Daily - 14 September 2018

In brief: Guatemala

Guatemala: President Jimmy Morales has promoted deputy finance minister, Víctor Manuel Martínez Ruiz, to head up the portfolio. The move follows the resignation on 13 September of Julio Héctor Estrada who had been in the post since President Morales took office in January 2016. Estrada initially offered his resignation a year ago when the political crisis first erupted, stemming from the call by the United Nations (UN)-International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) and the attorney general’s office (AG) for Morales to be investigated over illegal campaign financing. However, Morales did not accept it. Morales sparked a fresh crisis at the end of August with the announcement that Cicig’s mandate would not be renewed when it expires in September 2019. Estrada’s departure comes international credit ratings agency, Fitch, has issued a warning that the increase in political tensions and continued political uncertainty in Guatemala will “probably undermine economic growth perspectives”. In its latest (August) economic forecast, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (Eclac) revised down its growth estimates for Guatemala this year to 2.9%, down from 3.3% in April.

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