GUATEMALA: International observers supervise elections in Guatemala

International observers from the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS) observe voting process; Rigoberta Menchu casts her vote while a storm in Guatemala City affects election day. As Guatemalans voted for a new president on Sunday (September 09), in an election marred by the worst political violence since the end of civil war, international observers look on. Officials from the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS) closely observe the voting process. The two top contenders -- right-wing former Gen. Otto Perez Molina and centre-left businessman Alvaro Colom -- are unlikely to get the majority support needed for an outright win, and a November runoff between them is expected. The President of the European Union observers, Emilio Menendez Del Valle, said that he hopes that the candidates contend in a democratic and civilized way. "Well we hope that if in effect those who go through to the second round are Mr. Colom and Mr. Perez Molina, then we hope, and I'm sure they'll know how to, contend democratically and in a civilized way during this second round so that the best may emerge as the winner," he said. OAS observers could be seen walking around polling stations inspecting the process as well as the installations. Rigoberta Menchu, aiming to become Latin America's first indigenous woman president, trailed by a wide margin in opinion polls. She can be seen here casting her vote. The Nobel laureate is easily the best known candidate outside Guatemala but is trailing badly in the polls, lacking the campaign funds and political power base needed to become Latin America's first indigenous woman president. The Mayan rights activist from Guatemala's western highlands won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for defending victims of the civil war. Her autobiography made her an international symbol of the plight of Guatemala's Mayan Indians, who suffered the brunt of violence during the war and still live in grinding poverty in most parts of the country. Alejandro Giammattei, the ruling party candidate of President Oscar Berger's conservative GANA coalition, is running third in polls. In any run-off vote, Perez Molina is seen picking up much of that support. Colom's National Unity for Hope party lost 18 supporters in attacks during the campaign, more than any other party. Much of the bloodshed has come from powerful drug barons trying to force their candidates into office. Guatemalans also vote on Sunday for a new Congress and for hundreds of local officials. Rafael Espada, candidate for Vice-president of UNE, said: "With the current situation one can talk about violence at any moment but we hope that this is a democratic and peaceful process, a party that shouldn't be ruined, we are supervising everything and I think that the embassies are also supervising." Meanwhile a strong rain storm hit Guatemala City dissuading people to vote. Guatemala, a crossroads for Colombian cocaine moving though Central America on its way to the United States, has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with almost 6,000 people killed in the country of 13 million last year. An inept justice system leaves most crimes unsolved.

ITN Source | September 10, 2007

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