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A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 19 december 2018

Guatemala pulls diplomatic credentials of UN body's workers

By SONIA PEREZ D. Guatemala from a business work ... be it in the investi-
Associated Press trip to the United States. gations or various litigations
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — In a notice in the official in progress," Ponce said,
Guatemalan authorities publication Diario de Cen- "in addition to constitut-
said Tuesday that they troamerica, the Foreign ing an opportunity for pos-
have withdrawn diplomat- Ministry said the investiga- sible criminal prosecution
ic immunity from 11 work- tors' credentials had been against the workers."
ers with a U.N.-sponsored voided and they were be- During its 11 years operating
anti-graft commission who ing asked to return them. It in Guatemala, CICIG has
have investigated cases added that they no longer pressed corruption cases
of alleged corruption — "enjoy the privileges and that have implicated more
including ones targeting immunities" of their posts. than 600 people including
President Jimmy Morales' Commission spokesman elected officials, business-
son and brother. Matias Ponce said those people and bureaucrats.
The move marks the lat- affected are investigators In this Aug. 31, 2018 file photo, firecrackers go off as a supporter Perez Molina, who is behind
in favor of a decision by Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales
est salvo from Morales in and litigators involved in to shut down a U.N.-sponsored anti-graft commission led by bars awaiting trial, denies
his running dispute with high-profile cases. They in- Ivan Velasquez, in Guatemala City. the corruption allegations
the commission, known as clude lawyers Cesar Rincon Associated Press against him.
CICIG for its initials in Span- and Luis Fernando Orozco, The commission has also
ish, after the president who for years have worked Ponce argued that diplo- the body's commissioner tried to bring a case involv-
refused to renew its man- on investigations including matic immunity for CICIG has the authority to with- ing purported illegal cam-
date in the country earlier one that led to the resig- employees is established draw that protection. paign financing against
this year and then barred nation of now ex-President under the agreement that "The measure seeks to hurt Morales, who similarly de-
its chief from returning to Otto Perez Molina. created it, and that only the independence of the nies the allegations. q

Venezuelan migrants hit Peru's street, dancing to survive

By FRANKLIN BRICENO Most Venezuelan migrants bound into the intersection
Associated Press head to neighboring Co- with each red light — an
LIMA, Peru (AP) — The three lombia, overwhelming bor- exhausting 80 times over a
Venezuelan migrants eke der towns. They hawk their 13-hour workday. They end
out a living 90 seconds at valuables on the street, sell some days just $5 richer,
a time in a busy intersec- hotdogs or repair shoes. and hurting physically.
tion of Peru's capital. When Farther-off Peru is the sec- The sun cooks the asphalt.
the traffic light flashes red, ond-most-common desti- Their palms are covered in
the acrobatics and break nation. calluses and fingers some-
dancing starts. Rojas, 25, and her husband, times bleed. Rojas says her
With a captive audience Francisco Diaz, arrived in bones ache and her head
of pedestrians and com- Lima in 2016, leaving be- throbs.
muters packed inside city hind their mountainous Still, Rojas said, their life is
buses, the dancers' head- home in the Venezuelan better than in Venezuela,
stands, dizzying spins and state of Merida, where they where she would go two
fast-paced steps on a good ran a break dancing col- days in a row without eat-
day net up to $20 in pock- In this Dec. 12, 2018 photo, Venezuelan Karin Rojas balances lective. ing. Now, she can afford
on her head as she breakdances with Angel Fernandez for tips
et change — nearly three from commuters in Lima, Peru. In Peru, they met the third three meals a day.
times the monthly minimum Associated Press partner, Angel Fernandez, Their dancing also caught
wage in Venezuela. a short and stout 22-year- the attention of Jolie in Oc-
It also earned them a brush er Karin Rojas. "One day it's survival after fleeing their old from their home state. tober, when the American
with a Hollywood superstar good and the next day it's homeland and the worst The three settled on a busy actress visited Lima as a
Angelina Jolie. bad." economic crisis anybody in intersection in Lima to per- special envoy for the Unit-
"You never know how it will The trio is just part of a flood Latin America can remem- form. ed Nations High Commis-
go in the street," said danc- of Venezuelans fighting for ber. Six days a week, they sioner for Refugees. q