El Salvador to investigate possible links to Guatemala scandal

SAN SALVADOR, (Reuters) – El Salvador will investigate possible involvement by Salvadorans in a corruption scandal that led to the resignation and arrest of the president of neighboring Guatemala last month, authorities said yesterday.

Prosecutors are working with their Guatemalan counterparts to see what part Salvadorans had in the customs racket known as La Linea that felled Guatemalan President Otto Perez, said Mauricio Carballo, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.

Both Perez and his former vice president, Roxana Baldetti, are in custody awaiting trial over the multi-million-dollar scam, which Guatemalan prosecutors allege centered on importers avoiding paying customs duties in exchange for bribes.