Guatemala official resigns over Planned Parenthood row

GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala’s interior minister resigned Tuesday after his decision to allow the group Planned Parenthood to operate in the country despite conservative President Alejandro Giammattei’s fierce opposition to abortion.

The president said he had accepted the resignation of Oliverio García Rodas and told a local radio station he would overturn García Rodas’ decision to approve the group, whose clinics sometimes provide abortion services.

The president said he had been “surprised” by the decision and as soon as the approval was made public, “I immediately called religious leaders … to tell them this was not a decision of this administration, and much less of the president.”

Giammattei, a 64-year-old physician, also opposes gay marriage.

Former Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez noted this was not the only decision by Garcia Rodas that had been reversed.

Garcia Rodas recently created a special office to analyze threats or attacks against human rights activists, but three days later he cancelled the effort.