Guatemala's former leader acquitted of embezzlement

Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was acquitted Monday on all embezzlement charges relating to the alleged diversion of some $2 million from a Defense Ministry fund to his private accounts in the United States.

Portillo, who was captured by authorities last year as he tried to escape to neighboring Belize, smiled broadly as a three-judge panel announced its unanimous verdict. Two of his former ministers, Eduardo Arévalo Lacs and Manuel Maza Castellanos, were also acquitted.

While his two co-defendants were allowed to go free, Portillo was held in custody as he now faces extradition to the United States, where money-laundering charges were filed against him in New York for allegedly stashing away donations from the Taiwanese government.

At the conclusion of the nearly two-month trial, Chief Judge Morelia Ríos, said that she changed her vote to acquit because she had originally believed the former president was guilty. Prosecutor Claudia Paz y Paz said she will appeal the verdict.

After the acquittals were announced, Portillo supporters who had gathered outside the courthouse in Guatemala City set off firecrackers and rockets when they heard about the news, according to the capital's daily La Hora.

Portillo, who governed from 2000 to 2004, said he was pleased with the outcome even though he knew the prosecution would appeal.