[NYTr] Guatemala's Violent, Fraudulent, Nearly All-Male Elections Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 03:33:59 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit See also recent articles: Guatemala: No Such Thing as a Peaceful Election - Aug 10, 2007 https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20070813/066774.html EU to Send Observers to Guatemala - Aug 14, 2007 https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20070813/066793.html Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Guatemalan Parties Violate Rules Guatemala, Aug 25 (Prensa Latina) Guatemalan political parties are currently using deceitful methods to violate limits established in the campaign expenses, according to a report revealed by the "Mirador Electoral" civil organization. Despite the law establishing a maximum of 42 million quetzals (about $6 million) for each group, they do not keep to this in practice due to little authority by the Supreme Electoral Court and low penalties on offenders. A study carried out between June 1 and August 9 proved that the most favored party is the Guatemalan Republican Front, by former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, with 2.7 million quetzals ($360.000). Followed is the party "Union del Cambio Nacionalista," with 660 quetzals ($88,000) and the Unionist Party with 601,000 quetzals ($80,000), although most of parties are included in the list. Nearly 16 political groups are expected to participate in the September 9 elections, to elect the country"s president and vice president, as well as 158 mayors and 332 municipal governments. hr iff car mf PL-14 *** Guatemala Lacks Women Candidates Guatemala, Aug 25 (Prensa Latina) Participation of Guatemalan women for posts in the current elections slightly increased although it is still very below expectations of the sector. Although women are a majority in the population, only 12.6% are part of the 29,821 candidates registered for posts in the September 9 elections. "There are more candidates but there is still not a full opening up for women," explained women s leader Sandra Moran, and added "that where there is advancement it has been the result of strong battles." Moran noted the work of parties such as Encuentro por Guatemala and Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca that backed Rigoberta Menchu and Walda Barrios, for the presidency and vice presidency, respectively. She said that is was very important that Menchu, a representative of the indigenous population, aspire for the first time to lead the future of the nation. Due to a low number of candidates, men will occupy the majority of municipal, departmental and national posts. Currently, only 14 women hold seats in Congress that has a total of 158 members while, on a municipal level, only 8 women are mayors out of a total of 332. hr acl car avp mf PL-2 *** BBC News - Aug 24, 2007 http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6963167.stm EU alarm at Guatemala violence By Emilio San Pedro BBC News International election monitors in Guatemala have said they are deeply concerned over the murders of political candidates and activists. The Central American country will hold congressional and presidential elections on 9 September. At least 42 people have been killed in what has been described as election-related violence this year. However, prosecutors warn that it is not entirely clear if the killings have all been politically motivated. The deputy head of the team of European Union election monitors in Guatemala, Spain's Jose Antonio de Gabriel, said his delegation was concerned that the violence would have a detrimental effect on the election and could tarnish the final result. He also pointed out that the number of political murders in this election campaign in Guatemala had surpassed the total number of killings during the 2003 campaign. Violent climate Twenty-eight people were killed in that campaign in what were described as politically-motivated killings. This time the number has increased by 50% and Mr de Gabriel said he was worried that the number could rise even further - as the first round of the presidential election is still more than two weeks away. His comments follow the killing earlier this week of the teenage daughter of a Congressional candidate. Prosecutors said they found the 14 year old girl's body in the trunk of an abandoned car, along with the bodies of two other people. Her father, Hector Montenegro of the National Union of Hope Party, the favourite to win the election, described the killing as a political attack but vowed not to abandon his campaign. However, the Guatemalan Prosecutor General, Juan Luis Florido, said that given the violent climate in Guatemala, where about 16 are killed on average every day, it was still difficult to confirm that the killings were indeed politically-motivated. He said his office was still investigating the murders. So far no-one has been arrested in connection with the killings, which have not been aimed exclusively at any of the leading political parties. * ================================================================= .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org . List Archives: https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ . 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