GUATEMALA: Polling stations open as Guatemalans vote for a president in a contested runoff election

Polling stations opened early on Sunday (November 4) amid tight security as Guatemalans prepared to vote for a new president today in a tight presidential election that has split the country between left and right over how to fight a big surge in violent crime. Right-wing retired Gen. Otto Perez Molina, who vows to cut Guatemala's high murder rate by putting more troops on the streets and using capital punishment, faces left-leaning businessman Alvaro Colom in a close runoff. Early voting was slow compared to the first-round election in September, when lawmakers and mayors were also chosen. Opinion polls are divided over who will win but several surveys recently gave a small lead to Perez Molina, whose Patriot Party's logo is a clenched fist that symbolizes his tough stance on crime. A Guatemala city citizen, Walter Villatoro, said that people should vote because it's beneficial for Guatemala. "We are ready for the second round. One has to elect a president because it's beneficial for Guatemala and to choose wisely, to choose whom one will vote for." The army ruled the Central American country for decades until the mid-1980s and committed hundreds of massacres in 36 years of civil war before the government and leftist rebels made peace in 1996. Since then, Guatemala has been rocked by violent drug traffickers and tattooed street gang members. Almost 6,000 Guatemalans were murdered last year, nearly twice the number at the end of the war and one of the highest rates in the world. The soft-spoken Colom, whose symbol is a peace dove, won the September round of voting by 4.7 percentage points. He admits organized crime is present in his party and some voters say he is not tough enough to fix the nation's problems. The election campaign was itself marred by violence, with over 50 political party activists or candidates for Congress or local elections killed. Colom's party has been hardest hit with almost 20 party members murdered since last year. A party election monitor was killed in a gunfight on Saturday. According to the Chief of the Electoral Observers Mission, Wolfgang Kreissi-Dorfler, voting has begun peacefully and in an orderly fashion. "The first impressions are very positive. It's all very well organized. Everyone has the necessary information. Polling stations are opening before 7 a.m. and the first person to vote arrived at 6:53 a.m." Election results are due on Sunday night but the count could last for days if the contest is close.

ITN Source | November 5, 2007

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