Democracy News

Guatemalan Presidential Election Heads to Runoff
September 12, 2011
By: Carlos Aramayo | Printer Friendly

On September 11, CNN reported that the Central American nation of Guatemala held its presidential election. The New York Times reported that Otto Perez Molina, a conservative retired General who “played major roles both in Guatemala’s bloody civil war and in negotiating the 1996 peace accords that ended it,” won 37 percent of the vote, short of the 50 percent needed to avoid the runoff. With 95 percent of the polling stations still reporting results, Perez Molina was followed by businessmen Manuel Baldizon with 24 percent and Eduardo Suger with 16 percent of the vote. Perez Molina and Baldizon are expected to face each other in a runoff scheduled for November 2011.

During pre-election polls, Perez Molina, who campaigned on the promise to get tough on Guatemala's rampant crime, had the support of up to 48 percent of voters. Baldizon had 18 percent and Suger had 10 percent, CNN reported.

 According to the New York Times, Perez Molina’s failure to win the election outright suggest that concerns about his military past and his “iron fist” plans for crime-fighting may have been underestimated.  Perez Molina’s campaign strategy focused on eradicating the wave of violence that the country is facing through the implementation of army troops around the country. It was additionally reported that the New York Times said human rights groups have expressed their concern and “wonder if soldiers will once again kill with impunity.”

In his platform, Baldizon also pledged to fight crime and the Mexican cartels, which are particularly strong in the northern border region where Baldizon built a network of businesses. Reuters reported that Baldizon has stated that if elected his government will hold a referendum on reinstating the death penalty for crimes like kidnapping. Additionally, like Perez Molina, he wants to expand the role of the army in combating drug gangs.

In an interview with the New York Times, Cynthia Arnson, an expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars stated that people in Guatemala “want order.” In her view, the current security situation in Guatemala resembles “Colombia in 2001 and 2002 when insecurity and crime and violence were the dominant reality of daily life.”

The electoral process, the fourth since Guatemala ended a 36-year civil war that left 200,000 people dead, was plagued by violence with dozens of local and legislative candidates and aides being killed during the campaign. Additionally CNN reported that spending by political parties reportedly reached a record high” because Mexican drug cartels have recently moved in and stepped up their financing of candidates.”

Guatemala has a high murder rate, 45 deaths per 100,000 people according to a 2011 World Bank report. Regionally, this compares with 58 in El Salvador and 43 in Honduras, while Nicaragua registers a rate of 14 murders and Costa Rica’s eight. Impunity is widespread in the region, according to figures from the United Nations, more than 95 percent of killings go unpunished.

Sources:
CNN – Polls close in Guatemalan presidential election

New York Times – Ex-General to Face Runoff in Guatemala

Reuters – Retired general leads Guatemala vote, faces run-off

World Bank Report – Crime and Violence in Central America A Development Challenge