Guatemala ex-President Alfonso Portillo freed from US jail

Former Guatemalan president Alfonso Portillo has been released from prison in the US, after serving a sentence for taking in bribes from Taiwan. 

At his trial last year he pleaded guilty to attempting to launder $ 2.5 million in US banks. 

Mr Portillo said he had taken the money in exchange for a promise that Guatemala would continue to recognise Taiwan.

He was in office between 2000 and 2004. 

After his release he flew to Guatemala where he still enjoys support. 

Hundreds of supporters went to meet him at the La Aurora airport, in Guatemala City. 

Mr Portillo described his time in jail as "a big learning experience".

Alfonso Portillo, now 63, was arrested in 2010 on embezzlement charges.

He was extradited to the US in 2013 and sentenced a year later by a New York judge.

BBC