CNN
March 11, 2002

Former president quits Guatemala's ruling party

 
                 GUATEMALA CITY(AP) -- Former President Ramiro de Leon Carpio
                 resigned from the ruling party on Monday, expressing concern about
                 allegations of corruption in the government.

                 "I cannot continue supporting with my presence a style of government that I do not
                 share," De Leon said as he announced he was leaving the Guatemalan Republican
                 Front and resigning from his seat in congress.

                 De Leon was a former human rights ombudsman who was named president in
                 1993 when Jorge Serrano was forced to flee the country after a failed attempt to
                 dismiss congress and the supreme court.

                 He also had been president of the congress that drafted the country's 1984
                 constitution.

                 The resignation comes amid a series of newspaper reports accusing President
                 Alfonso Portillo and other officials of opening bank accounts and businesses in
                 Panama.

                 "I feel uncomfortable and I am worried by the indications of corruption, which is
                 the No. 1 enemy of our fragile democracy," de Leon said.

                  Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.