Guatemalans choose

president amid distrust, flight to US

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalans voted for a new president Sunday following an electoral process that generated widespread disillusion and distrust, and came as tens of thousands were fleeing poverty and gang violence to seek a new life in the United States.

Marco René Cuellar, the first to vote at the Mixed Rural School in the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula, said he hoped for the good faith of the winner because the country needed changes.

“There is a belief that instead of advancing in these four years of government, we’ve gone backward,” said the 39-year-old, adding that the candidates had little to offer. “We’ve lost our way as a country, but we should not lose faith in the democratic process we have.”

Voters are choosing between 19 candidates for a four-year presidential term that begins in January 2020. The winner needs an absolute majority, making an August runoff between the two top vote-getters likely. More than 8.1 million citizens of the Central American nation will also be eligible to vote for the vice president, congressional representatives and mayors.

The top five candidates for president are: former first lady Sandra Torres of the National Unity and Hope party, who is expected to finish first but without enough votes to win in the first round; former prison director and four-time presidential candidate Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla; businessman Roberto Arzú; lawyer and journalist Edmond Auguste Mulet Lesieur; and Thelma Cabrera, the only indigenous candidate.

On Sunday, municipal officials and police stood guard as many waited in line to cast their ballot in an election dinged by threats of violence and possible fraud.

To the east of the capital, in the Zacapa department, voting stations didn’t open in the San Jorge municipality after organizers were threatened with violence. More than 7,000 people were unable to cast votes there. Voting was also called off in Esquipulas Palo Gordo, near the border with Mexico in the San Marcos department, amid accusations of vote-buying.

The attorney general’s office launched an investigation after a voter posted a video to social media showing how her ballot was allegedly already marked for Torres.