Guatemala president claims spying, head guard quits

By Sarah Grainger

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - The head of presidential security in Guatemala resigned on Thursday after President Alvaro Colom said he found cameras and voice recorders hidden in his offices and home.

Colom said the devices could have been used for espionage but did not specify who he thought had planted them or why.

"This is a very serious infiltration in the presidential palace. We have found seven recorders, two hidden cameras and two similar devices in my private office," he told a news conference. "There are indications there are more in the window of my house."

Colom, a social democrat who took office in January, said he suspected a plot when information from his private conversations appeared in newspapers.

"Now it makes sense. A lot of details were being published in the press and we couldn't understand how it was getting into the public domain," Colom said, showing journalists several small video cameras and audio recorders.

Some high-profile murder cases in Guatemala in recent years have revealed links between drug gangs and security officials operating within the government.

There were dozens of police and soldiers on the streets around the president's palace as Colom's aides carried out a full search for more devices, shutting the building temporarily.

Last November, Colom beat a right-wing former general in an election that focused on out-of-control crime in Guatemala, which has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America.

Despite campaigning on a platform of peace and reconciliation, Colom has since vowed to bolster security forces and pledged to deploy soldiers to crack down on violent youth gangs and powerful drug cartels.