GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Former Guatemalan presidential candidate Manuel Baldizon, who is wanted on graft charges, has sought asylum in the United States after he was arrested while trying to enter the country, authorities from both nations said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security arrested Baldizon following an Interpol alert resulting from a Guatemalan arrest warrant, the U.S. embassy in Guatemala said. Guatemala’s charges against Baldizon are part of a giant corruption probe involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht SA, according to the prosecutor’s office. FILE PHOTO: Renewed Democratic Liberation (LIDER) party's presidential candidate Manuel Baldizon addresses supporters during a political rally in Villa Nueva, on the outskirts of Guatemala City, September 4, 2015. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

Baldizon is a tycoon-turned-political populist who lost a runoff election in 2011 to Otto Perez Molina, the former president who is himself facing trial in a separate corruption case. A statement from prosecutors alleges Baldizon took bribes from Odebrecht to help win highway construction contracts in Guatemala. Baldizon is wanted in Guatemala on charges of illicit association, bribery and money laundering, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Former presidential candidate Manuel Baldizón is captured in the United States accused of receiving bribes from Odebrecht.