World News | Guatemala Official Resigns over Planned Parenthood Row

Guatemala City, Nov 4 (AP) Guatemala's interior minister resigned on 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.

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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.

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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 analyse threats or attacks against human rights activists, but three days later, he cancelled the effort. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)