Alfonso Portillo

The ex-president of Guatemala, Alfonso Portillo, accused of various charges of corruption between 2000 and 2004, has turned himself in to the local police.

The authorities have declared that the ex-president will be judged in court and will remain in police custody. Portillo had been on the run since January 2004 when he fled to Mexico, after being accused of abuse of authority and embezzlement.

In 2005 he lost the legal battle in which he claimed political asylum, as he has always considered himself a political refugee. He obtained a one year work-visa in Mexico and he lived in one of the more expensive neighborhoods of the capital.

Before his extradition, Portillo tried almost everything to avoid it; he even opened a trial against Guatemala, out of which he was trying to obtain the recognition of his membership at the Central American Parliament, hoping that this way he would regain his political immunity and escape prosecution.