most candidates close campaign amid political tension

First modification: 06/23/2023 – 04:28

the former first lady from GuatemalaSandra Torres, leads her competitors in the presidential race of the Central American country, according to a survey published on Thursday by the newspaper Prensa Librethe last before the elections on Sunday.

The poll indicated that former first lady Torres has a 21.3% vote intention, followed by former diplomat Mulet, with 13.4%. Third place is occupied by Zury Ríos, daughter of former dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt, with 9.1%. The survey was carried out between June 5 and 14 among 1,202 citizens over the age of 18 located in 22 departments and has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

Of the three candidates that dotted, only Sandra Torres remains to close the campaign. This is the third time that she has run for president. In the last presidential elections, in August 2019, Torres won the first round with 25.2% of the votes, beating Alejandro Giammattei who obtained 13.9%. However, Giammattei reversed the results in the second round.

An experience that Torres does not want to repeat, but that the polls predict so because none of the current candidates manages to exceed the 50% threshold necessary to avoid a second round.

In addition, discontent and rejection of all the candidates is growing among the population. A few hours before the polls open, many Guatemalans remain undecided and even consider the nullity of the vote as a symbol of protest to express their disapproval.

The race to succeed the current right-wing president Alejandro Giammattei has been marked by a feeling of illegitimacy and accusations of corruption against the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Opposition figures and international organizations accuse the Giammattei government of taking authoritarian stances such as the repression of judges, journalists, prosecutors and activists.

Ban on presidential candidacies

Election authorities have barred four presidential hopefuls from running, including businessman Carlos Pineda, who was leading in the polls before being disqualified for what the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank, described as “arbitrary” reasons.

Another of the alternative figures who was rejected from the presidential race was Thelma Cabrera, the only indigenous woman in the field of candidates. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the courts denied her registration because her running mate allegedly did not meet administrative requirements.

Cabrera of the Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP) was this Thursday at the closing of the campaign of the leftist party and called to vote for deputies and mayors in the absence of a presidential proposal.

“Corrupt pact” and popular will

Guatemala faces serious corruption problems, especially in its judicial system, according to press reports. And based on the A report for 2022 released by Transparency International details that the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranked Guatemala in 24th place among the most corrupt countries, reaching historically low levels in terms of corruption.

In this context of distrust in the institutions, some opposition candidates to President Giammattei, such as Julio Héctor Estrada, affirm that political corruption is one of the issues that cause the most concern in Guatemala. The candidate for CREO assures that “there are people who prefer the past structures so that justice does not come upon them” and considers that international cooperation is necessary to put an end to corruption definitively.

Some of the presidential candidates with the least intention to vote denounce that there is a “Corrupt Pact” among the candidates who vote to preserve impunity in cases of corruption.

The term “Corrupt Pact” arose on September 13, 2017 when the deputies of the Congress of the Republic decided to modify the Criminal Code to protect themselves from accusations of corruption and the crime of illegal electoral financing, but these reforms brought with them that the 89 % of all crimes had alternatives to avoid prison.

However, for the average Guatemalan, the controversies surrounding the elections are not as worrisome as the rising cost of feeding their families and protecting their loved ones, according to citizens consulted by the news agency ‘Associated Press’ (AP ).

Ingrid Jhanet Simón Perén, a first grade teacher, admits that she has not had enough time to learn much about the 22 candidates running for the presidency of Guatemala because her work at school and later as a housewife do not allow it.

Ingrid is primarily concerned about the constantly rising prices of basic foods, Guatemala’s deep inequality, and the lack of jobs that could cloud the future prospects of her rural students.

In 44% of Guatemala’s rural municipalities, three out of four people live in poverty, according to the World Bank.

With Reuters, AP and local media