2023-08-21 15:00:14
Guatemala decided this Sunday to change course with the election of academic Bernardo Arévalo de León as its new president for the period 2024-2028 and a new rejection of the candidacy of former first lady Sandra Torres Casanova, the third in a row.
(Keep reading: Who is Bernardo Arévalo, the elected president of Guatemala?)
Arévalo de León obtained 2.4 million votes in total, the highest number in the history of Guatemala, while Torres accumulated 1.5 million ballots in his favor, in a second round that had 55 percent abstentionism. .
(In context: this was the second round of this Sunday in Guatemala)
The president-elect, of the political party Movimiento Semilla, stated on Sunday night that “the polls have expressed themselves” and “what the people are shouting is enough of so much corruption.”
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Arévalo de León added that he accepts “with great humility this victory” offered by the Guatemalan population with 59% of the total votes, according to data from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
The future president confirmed that the outgoing president, the right-wing Alejandro Giammattei, called him to congratulate him. “We will sit down to make a schedule for the transition plan,” he explained.
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What does his triumph mean?
The second electoral round that was held this Sunday had no major incidents, although all eyes are now on the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office), which since July 12 has tried to suspend the candidacy of Arévalo de León and his political party, Movimiento Seed.
Precisely three days ago, the prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, sanctioned by the United States, as well as the leadership of the Public Ministry, indicated that this same Monday, August 21, there could be arrests against members of Semilla for an alleged case of illegal signatures in 2018.
Regardless of what happens in the coming days, Arévalo de León’s victory reflects the change of direction chosen by Guatemalans to turn their backs on the traditional and right-wing parties that have ruled the country for 70 years.
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Considered a progressive party and of the moderate left, the Movimiento Semilla group was born from the anti-corruption demonstrations registered in 2015 in Guatemala and that led to the fall of the Government of Otto Pérez Molina (2012-2015) due to a scandalous and millionaire case of bribes.
Arévalo’s victory means a defeat for the old politics, the ruling party and those nostalgic for the Cold War.
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Arévalo De León, who is currently a deputy, reached the second round driven by a solid urban vote, with the promise of fighting corruption in the Central American country and the intention of emulating the presidency of his father, Juan José Arévalo Bermejo, who governed the country between 1945-1951.
The newly elected president has not announced his government cabinet for the four-year period that will begin next January 14, replacing the current president, Alejandro Giammattei, who said this Sunday that an “orderly transition” will take place when the Court Supreme Electoral officialize the triumph of Arévalo de León.
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Hard times
“It will be a long period before the takeover. These will be complex times,” he added.
The former first lady had the silent support of Giammattei and the government’s allied powerful business elite. She leads a center-left party that has turned to the right.
(In context: What was at stake in Guatemala with the presidential elections this Sunday?)
Torres had been questioning the electoral process since Friday and asked the courts to guarantee the cleanliness of the ballot. After the vote, his party declared that it would establish “a definitive position when the results are clarified with total transparency” and lashed out at the electoral observers of the OAS and the EU.
Torres also received the silent support of several right-wing parties, evangelical pastors and the prosecutor’s office, which has tried to outlaw the Semilla de Arévalo party.
The Supreme Court on Friday annulled the order to disqualify Semilla and Arévalo said he hopes the prosecution will abandon the “ongoing persecution” against his party “after the forcefulness of this victory” at the polls.
Analysts point out that Guatemala is experiencing a setback towards authoritarianism as the establishment reacted to the CICIG, an entity created by the UN that investigated government corruption between 2007 and 2019.
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In 2019, the then right-wing president Jimmy Morales closed the CICIG and Giammattei did not want to revive it.
In a strongly conservative and religious country, Arévalo rules out legalizing equal marriages or abortion, which is only allowed if there is a risk to the mother. His coming to power will mark the end of 12 years of right-wing governments.
Third straight loss
At the other extreme, former first lady Torres Casanova accumulated her third consecutive defeat in the runoff for the presidency, waiting to confirm whether or not she will continue in politics in the Central American country.
The ex-wife of former president Álvaro Colom (2008-2012) has not spoken after the numbers that gave Arévalo de León the winner of the second round of elections over the candidate of the National Unity of Hope (UNE).
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Torres Casanova’s press conference, scheduled for tonight, has been canceled after the results were released, which leave the former first lady in second place, as happened in 2015 and also in 2019.
The data on the votes of this Sunday specify that Torres Casanova won in five of the 22 departments that make up Guatemala, but the great difference in favor of Arévalo de León was also in the capital of the country, where he obtained approximately 75% of the votes. valid votes.
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