Guatemalans go to polls to pick new president amid distrust, flight to US
- Campaign season marked by chaotic flurry of court rulings, shenanigans and illegal party-switching
- Tens of thousands are leaving the country in an attempt to escape poverty and gang violence
Guatemalans voted for a new president on Sunday following an electoral process that generated widespread disillusion and distrust, and came as tens of thousands were fleeing poverty and gang violence to seek a new life in the United States.
Marco René Cuellar, the first to vote at the Mixed Rural School in the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula, said he hoped for the good faith of the winner because the country needed changes.
“There is a belief that instead of advancing in these four years of government, we’ve gone backward,” said the 39-year-old, adding that the candidates had little to offer. “We’ve lost our way as a country, but we should not lose faith in the democratic process we have.”
Voters are choosing between 19 candidates for a four-year presidential term that begins in January 2020. The winner needs an absolute majority, making an August run-off between the two top vote-getters likely. More than 8.1 million citizens of the Central American nation will also be eligible to vote for the vice-president, congressional representatives and mayors.
The top five candidates for president are: former first lady Sandra Torres of the National Unity and Hope party, who is expected to finish first but without enough votes to win in the first round; former prison director and four-time presidential candidate Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla; businessman Roberto Arzú; lawyer and journalist Edmond Auguste Mulet Lesieur; and Thelma Cabrera, the only indigenous candidate.