In a race clouded by worries of a democratic backslide, anti-corruption candidate Bernardo Arévalo of the left-leaning Movimiento Semilla party appears to have defeated former first lady Sandra Torres and won Sunday’s presidential election in Guatemala.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s official results show that Arévalo received 59.1% of the vote, compared to Torres’ 36.1%, after more than 95% of the votes had been tabulated.
It’s a surprise victory for the former diplomat who rekindled the campaign after the state disqualified opposition candidates for speaking out against corruption, raising concerns from rights organizations and Western allies.
As it became clear that Arévalo had won by a wide majority on Sunday night, the president of the electoral tribunal, Irma Palencia, declared during a press conference that “today, the people voice’s spoke.”
In a post on X, formally known as Twitter, Arévalo wrote: “Long live Guatemala!”
Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei congratulated Arévalo for his win in a post on X, saying he would “extend the invitation to start the ordered transition the day after the results are official.”
The center-left politician Arévalo tapped into widespread public discontent with his promises to curb crime and corruption, tackle malnutrition, and bring growth to a country that has one of the highest levels of inequality in the region.
Achieving those goals won’t be easy for Arévalo, whose father was the country’s first democratically elected president, as Congress is set to be largely controlled by establishment parties, including Torres’ Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza.
A Guatemalan court suspended his Movimiento Semilla party on the request of Rafael Curruchiche, who heads the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity and is on the US State Department’s Engel List of “corrupt and undemocratic actors.”
Curruchiche said they were investigating Movimiento Semilla for allegedly falsifying citizens’ signatures – a claim Arévalo has denied.
His win comes as regional observers say rising kleptocracy, graft and weakening rule of law have exacerbated inequality in the Central American country, driving thousands of Guatemalans to move to the United States in recent years.
(CNN)
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