[progchat_action] Guatemalan Businessman, Ex-General Head to Runoff
 
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 01:03:02 -0500 (CDT)

Guatemalan Businessman, Ex-General Head to Runoff

By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, September 11, 2007; Page A14

Antigua, Guatemala  -- Three-time presidential candidate Alvaro Colom and
former army general Otto Pirez Molina easily outdistanced 12 opponents in
Sunday's presidential election and will face each other in a Nov. 4 runoff,
according to results announced Monday.

With more than 96 percent of the votes counted, Colom, a businessman, had 28
percent, winning majorities in 16 of Guatemala's 22 states, known here as
departments. But Pirez Molina, who got 24 percent of the votes, was able to
force a runoff with a strong showing in heavily populated Guatemala City.
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Rigoberta Menchz, the first indigenous woman to
run for president of Guatemala, finished a distant sixth with 3 percent
after drawing much international attention in the early days of the
campaign.

"She built her reputation internationally, but did not do enough to earn the
trust of indigenous people here in Guatemala," analyst Alvaro Pop said in an
interview.

At least 50 candidates and political activists were killed in the run-up to
the election, which included state and local races. Voting on Sunday was
mostly peaceful, with a few scattered incidents of violence and one death in
the central Guatemalan village of Tucuru, where local news reports said
opponents of a mayoral candidate clashed with police. Turnout was heavy,
with more than 3 million Guatemalans -- more than half the 6 million
registered voters -- casting ballots.

The runoff promises to be a tight race, political analyst Gustavo Berganza
said. Pirez Molina, who has vowed to use the military to combat drug cartels
and rampant violence, appeared to be in position to pick up a large number
of votes from supporters of Alejandro Giammattei, who finished surprisingly
strong in third place. Giammattei, who represents current President Oscar
Berger's Grand National Alliance, collected 17 percent of the vote after
running a law-and-order campaign similar to Pirez Molina's.

Colom demonstrated tremendous organizational strength on election day, with
his supporters rallying voters throughout the country, even in remote areas
where political parties have traditionally been weak. Colom also appeared to
be avoiding "errors he committed in 2003" when he aggressively attacked his
opponent after the first round, turning off voters weary of political
bickering, Berganza said.

"This time," Berganza said, "he's sounding more like a statesman."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR2007091002
077.html

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