Guatemalans voted this Sunday to elect a new presidentbetween 22 candidates, and renew the Congress and the municipal governments.
(Read here: Who are the candidates running for the presidency in Guatemala?)
The voting centers opened around 7 am (local time), as scheduled, and were open until 6 pm (local time) to receive the votes of some 9.4 million citizens..
During the day, residents of two municipalities of Guatemala clashed with police who fired tear gas to break up the protests for alleged anomalies in the general elections this Sunday, the authorities said.
The incidents were recorded in gulf san josein the northeastern outskirts of the capital, where voting was suspended, as well as in San Martin Zapotitlansouth of Guatemala City, according to the electoral entity.
“We have made the decision to permanently close the voting centers” in San José del Golfo, the president of the Departmental Electoral Board of Guatemala, Álvaro Bravo, said at a press conference.
He specified that now it is up to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to decide “when and how to carry out the voting in that municipality.”
Sandra Torres, Edmond Mulet and Zury Ríos, candidates for the presidency of Guatemala.
Efe photo combo
The incidents began in the early hours of Sunday when some neighbors intercepted buses with voters from other places who were mobilized with the intention of having them vote in San José del Golfo, according to opposition leaders.
The enraged residents also threatened to attack the members of the polling stations and the Municipal Electoral Board, accusing them of complicity.
It is unknown whether or not the protesters belong to a political party.
Meanwhile, the police launched tear gas bombs to disperse the protesters in San Martín Zapotitlán, who burned the ballots in a voting center because of the same complaint of transfer of voters.
The local police officer, Edgar Morán, clarified that they intervened to regain “control of the situation” and people were once arrested, who were “placed at the disposal of the competent authority” (justice).
The 3,482 polling stations were closed at 6:00 pm local time after an election day in which incidents occurred in at least five municipalities of the Central American country.
Who are the candidates?
The social democrat Sandra Torres leads the intention to vote (21.3%), followed by the centrist Edmond Mulet (13.4%), the right-wing Zury Ríos (9.1%) and the right-wing official Manuel Conde (5.8%). %)according to the latest ProDatos survey.
“Now Guatemala is going to have a mother government,” says Torres, ex-wife of the late president Álvaro Colom (2008-2012), while Mulet, a former UN official, promises to take the army to the streets “temporarily” to fight crime.
File photo of the streets of Guatemala.
There are 22 presidential candidates in the running, something common in Guatemala. If neither has an absolute majority, there will be a runoff on August 20. Voting is voluntary and re-election is prohibited.
Some 9.4 million Guatemalans are empowered to elect the successor to right-wing President Alejandro Giammattei, who is coming to the end of his four-year term with 76% disapproval, according to ProDatos. In addition, 160 deputies, 340 mayors and 20 representatives to the Central American Parliament will be elected.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With AFP
Results
The left-wing candidate Bernardo Arévalo de León aims to be the big surprise in the Guatemalan presidential elections this Sunday, with 25 percent of the votes officially counted, waiting to confirm if the trend in his favor continues.
Arévalo de León, 64, ranked eighth in the latest polls released this week but remains in second place today after 25 percent of the tables counted (1.3 million votes counted), with 12, 70% of ballots in his favor.
The first place goes to the former first lady Sandra Torres Casanova, who adds a total of 14.746% of the added votes, so both would face each other in a second round in August since neither of them had 50% of the votes. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal scheduled a press conference on the results for 11:00 p.m. local time, after rescheduling it twice
EFE
timid victories of the left
The Seed party, a coalition that was born from the marches against the corruption of the government of Otto Pérez Molina that led to his fall in 2015, has obtained 20% of the votes in the last available ballots.
However, the candidate Bernardo Arévalo León remains prudent and timid in the face of the surprising results so far.
“This is not the time to claim victory. We are aware, we are measured, and we will wait to see more solid results,” said the left-wing candidate in a message through his social networks.
According to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, a 45% abstention rate by Guatemalan voters has been reported.
