Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo (left) speaks to the press as he is led by police to an aircraft that will fly him to the United States from Guatemala City, May 24, 2013.
Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo has been flown to the United States to face charges of laundering more than $70 million in public funds through US banks.
On Friday, the former Guatemalan president was picked up from a military hospital in Guatemala City and put on a small plane bound for New York, Portilloâ„¢s lawyer said.
Portillo, who was president from 2000 to 2004, had a liver operation in April and has been suffering from heart arrhythmia.
Before boarding the plane, the 61-year-old told local radio he was being kidnapped and accused the Guatemalan government of breaking the law.
“They have acted illegally against me from the beginning. They have violated all my rights,” he stated.
“They are taking me away sick, so I hold the government and the interior minister responsible for anything that may happen to my health. I’m not well,” Portillo emphasized.
He is the first former Latin American leader to be extradited to the US.
In a statement issued later in the day, the US Embassy in Guatemala welcomed the extradition, saying, Å“This decision is an important affirmation of the rule of law and due process in Guatemala.”
“We commend the Guatemalan authorities in the strengthening of rule of law and the fight against organized crime and corruption,” it added.
GJH/HN
This article originally appeared on: Press TV