former first lady Sandra Torres and diplomat Bernardo Arévalo will go to the second round in August

Guatemala will go to a second electoral round, according to the preliminary results reported in the early hours of Monday. With 51.4% of the tally sheets processed, former first lady Sandra Torres and career diplomat Bernardo Arévalo, both of center-left tendencies, captured the majority of votes.

None, however, achieved 50% plus one valid vote for an absolute victory. The second round is scheduled to be held on August 20.

With more than half of the ballots computed, Torres, ex-wife of the late president Álvaro Colom (2008-2012), obtained 14.9% of the votes. Arévalo, current deputy of the social democratic Seed Movement, achieved 12.2% of the preferences.

The preliminary result was a surprise in the case of Arévalo, who was not among the favorites in the polls.

They are followed in the results by the official Manuel Conde, with 8% of support; the right-wing businessman Armando Castillo, with 7.3%; the conservative diplomat Edmond Mulet, with 6.9%; and Zury Ríos, daughter of the late dictator Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983), with 6.7% of the preferences. The rest, out of twenty candidates, did not exceed 5%.

Guatemala’s elections, which will decide who will succeed President Alejandro Giammattei, have been surrounded by controversy. Among them, the exclusion of four applicants stands out. The United States and the European Union criticized the veto of businessman Carlos Pineda, who was ahead in the polls and who for his part described the measure as “electoral fraud” and called for null voting.

Around 9.3 million Guatemalans were summoned to the electoral polls this Sunday, to elect the president, vice president, 160 deputies of Congress, 20 of the Central American Parliament and 340 municipal mayors. However, only 54% attended, according to preliminary results.

Null votes totaled 17% and blank votes 7%, according to the first results released.

At six in the afternoon on Sunday, the 3,400 voting centers closed and the count began. From that moment, the institution transmitted the preliminary results indicating the percentage of records that have been accounted for and those that are missing.

Giammattei, a 67-year-old doctor, had assumed the presidency of Guatemala in January 2020 for a four-year term with the promise of fighting corruption, poverty and insecurity in the country. These and others are the reasons why many choose to emigrate. Only 1.3 million Guatemalans live in the United States. The figure is 44% higher than a decade ago.

What do the possible successors of Giammattei promise?

Torres, 67, has promised that if he becomes president, he will eliminate the Value Added Tax (VAT) on basic basket products, give loans to young entrepreneurs, lower electricity rates and halve the prices of the medicines.

“We are optimistic, we are happy. We are going to win, with whomever, we are going to win. We are prepared to win the election,” Torres said at a press conference.

Arévalo, a 64-year-old sociologist and writer and son of former President Juan José Arévalo (1945-1951), has promised to eradicate corruption, increase the number of police officers, improve job creation and combat climate change.

“Our deep and total gratitude to the people who gave us their vote of confidence. Thank you for your courage and for taking a step forward,” Arévalo wrote on Twitter. “We are not here to win the polls. We are here to win the elections,” he added.

What are the main challenges that the winner will face?

Guatemala has been descending in recent years on the corruption perception lists of the NGO Transparency International. In 2022 it was ranked 150 out of 180 countries.

Many Guatemalans consulted by the voice of america on Sunday they said they are looking for change, on issues ranging from corruption to the high cost of living.

The country closed its doors to CICIG, a UN-backed anti-corruption mission that carried out several investigations, exposing misconduct by senior public officials, including Giammattei himself, Sandra Torres and four former presidents.

In terms of freedom of the press, there are multiple complaints.

The United States is Guatemala’s main trading partner. The main candidates have declared their sympathy for Taiwan and not for China, which is seeking by all means to attract allies in the region.

Asked about relations with the US, Giammattei responded to the VOA Sunday after casting his vote: “I don’t know about them, but they’re fine by me.”

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