News

• Nov 25, 2011: Guatemala: Retired general sweeps to power in Guatemala election, Reuters (2011) A retired right-wing general promising a crackdown on violent crime won Guatemala's presidential election on Sunday and will be the first military man to take power since democracy was restored in 1986.
• Oct 24, 2011: Guatemala: Guatemalan President Confirms Elections Runoff Date, InsideCostaRica (2011) Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom confirmed that the presidential elections runoff will be held on November 6, despite the state of disaster decreed due to the heavy rains.
• Oct 10, 2011: Guatemala: Cacif recibe a Otto Pérez; partidos apoyan a Baldizón, Prensa Libre (2011) Los candidatos presidenciales Otto Pérez Molina y Manuel Baldizón se reunieron ayer con el sector privado y partidos políticos, en el marco de la búsqueda de apoyo en la segunda vuelta.
• Sep 22, 2011: Guatemala: OAS notes high turnout in Guatemala elections, Caribbean News (2011) The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, said on Monday that "beyond the difficulties and problems, the Guatemalan people have been able to express their will. We hope that the runoff election is carried out in a climate of peace and cooperation between the different sectors of the country. "
• Sep 21, 2011: Guatemala: Candidates head for runoff in Guatemalan presidential election, CNN (2011) The two top candidates in Guatemala's presidential race are headed for a runoff after tallies Monday revealed neither had secured enough votes to win the election.
• Sep 12, 2011: Guatemala: Former general holds lead going into Guatemalan election, CNN (2011) A retired army general is the favorite in a three-man race to become Guatemala's next president. Polls favor Otto Perez Molina as Guatemalans prepare to go to the polls Sunday to choose a new president for a four-year term. Perez, 60, is campaigning for the high office for a second time. He was defeated in 2007 by incumbent president Alvaro Colom.
• Sep 12, 2011: Guatemala: Guatemala's 2011 presidential candidates, Reuters (2011) Guatemala vote for a new president on Sunday with 10 candidates battling to run the coffee- and sugar-growing nation as it tries to tackle poverty and beat back powerful Mexican drug cartels.
• Sep 12, 2011: Guatemala: Questions persist over Guatemala election funding ahead of Sunday vote, The Christian Science Monitor (2011) Ties to illegal groups, including the "hidden powers" that control Guatemalan politics, are thought to permeate much of the party system. Prominent newspaper editor Jose Ruben Zamora has alleged that army Gen. Mauro Jacinto, who was found murdered soon afterwards, told him that Mr. Colom’s campaign for the presidency had received 16 million quetzeles from local criminal bosses such as the Leones, the Mendozas, and the Lorenzanas, and more than Q20 million from the Zetas.
• Sep 12, 2011: Guatemala: 66 Cities at Risk of Election-Related Violence, InsideCostaRica (2011) At least 66 of Guatemala''s 333 cities are at risk for violence during Sunday''s presidential elections, the Human Rights Attorney''s Office (PDH) alerted. The PDH created a risk map to mark the regions where which problems could arise during the elections, identifying 17 of the country's 22 departments, most of them indigenous populations.
• Sep 12, 2011: Guatemala: Guatemala in Final Stage of Electoral Campaign, Insidecostarica (2011) In the final stretch of the campaign, when there are only a few days remaining for the elections, presidential candidates focus more on criticizing rivals that on proposing concrete solutions to the problems of Guatemala.
• Sep 12, 2011: Guatemala: Guatemalan Elections Marred By Censorship And Barriers To Access, Euroasiareview (2011) With only three weeks left to go before the first round of Guatemala’s 2011 general elections, a number of candidates for president are being denied access by the Guatemalan media, casting a negative pall over the fairness of the proceedings.
• Sep 12, 2011: Guatemala: Guatemala's Pérez Molina Leading in Presidential Polls, Amercias Society (2011) With less than three weeks to go before Guatemala’s September 11 presidential election, former General Otto Pérez Molina has emerged as the clear frontrunner. The latest poll, conducted by Borge and Associates and Guatemalan daily El Periódico earlier this month, found that 44.8 percent of Guatemala’s six million voters would cast their ballots for Pérez Molina.
• Aug 16, 2011: Guatemala: Electoral Violence Escalates in Guatemala, In Sight (2011) It is estimated that 38 people have died so far in the run-up to the Guatemalan 2011 general elections, an even higher number than was recorded during 2007 contest.
• Aug 16, 2011: Guatemala: Ex-Guatemalan First Lady Can't Run for President Despite Divorce, Fox News Latino (2011) The former Guatemalan first lady's marriage is over – and so, it appears, is her political career. Sandra Torres' bid to succeed her ex-husband, Alvaro Colom, came to an end late Monday when the constitutional court ruled her ineligible to run because of her relationship to the president.
• Aug 16, 2011: Guatemala: El Supremo de Guatemala rechaza la candidatura de la ex primera dama, ep/latam (2011) La Corte Suprema de Justicia de Guatemala anunció el sábado su rechazo a un recurso de amparo de la ex primera dama Sandra Torres para su candidatura a la Presidencia del país, lo que deja al Constitucional como última y definitiva instancia para resolver el caso.
• Jul 08, 2011: Guatemala:Former Guatemalan first lady's presidential bid hits obstacle, CNN (2011) Guatemala's former first lady, who divorced the sitting president in order to run herself for the top post, had her candidacy rejected by the country's electoral tribunal Wednesday.
• Jun 29, 2011: Guatemala: TSE evalúa contratar a personas con discapacidad, Prensa Libre (2011) El Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) evalúa contratar a personas con discapacidad para que los apoyen en la elaboración de material, así como para la atención al público y ayuda en logística.
• Apr 25, 2011: Guatemala: TSE define fechas para juramentaciones y convocatoria, Prensa Libre (2011) El Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) definió el calendario de juramentaciones, la convocatoria y la primera reunión con los futuros fiscales de partidos políticos para preparar las elecciones de septiembre.
• Feb 04, 2011: A glimpse at Guatemala’s election panorama 2011, The Guatemala Times (2011)
• Jan 21, 2011: Archivo de noticias
• Aug 19, 2010: Guatemalans Expect Fraudulent Election, Angus Reid Global Monitor (2010) "A large majority of people in Guatemala think the next general election will be marred by fraud, according to a poll by Vox Latina published in Prensa Libre. 63.9 per cent of respondents share this opinion."
• Jul 15, 2010: Guatemala: In Latin America, first ladies set eyes on presidencies, Yahoo News (2010) In a country where machismo is still the rule, Sandra Torres doesn't cut the demure figure of past first ladies. She doesn't host social events or boost charities.
• Sep 02, 2009: Guatemala: Colom an Average President for Guatemalans, Angus Reid Global Monitor (2009) Most adults in Guatemala hold lukewarm views on their president, according to a poll by Borge y Asociados published in El Periódico. 51.4 per cent of respondents rate Álvaro Colom’s performance as average.
• Sep 12, 2008: Guatemala: Goldcorp Inc. & The Danger of Democracy, Upside Down World (2008) "In unison, hundreds of Mayan Mam community leaders raised their hands in the Gimnasio Municipal (municipal gym) of San Miguel Ixtahuacan (SMI), Guatemala on April 30. These hundreds of raised hands indicated a "yes" vote for the municipality of SMI to hold a legally binding community consultation concerning whether or not to permit mining."
• Jul 14, 2008: Guatemala: Guatemalan Voters Elect Businessman, The New York Times (2007)
• Jul 14, 2008: Guatemala: Complex Defeat for Nobel Winner in Guatemala, The New York Times (2007)
• Jul 14, 2008: Guatemala: Guatemala's candidates run gamut, Miami Herald (2007) The top three contenders for Guatemala's presidency include a left-of-center industrial engineer, a retired general and a candidate from the ruling party
• May 22, 2008: Guatemala: Presidential Elections, Washington Post (2007) Results in Guatemalan Elections.
• May 22, 2008: Guatemala: Rigoberta Menchú suffers a complex defeat at the polls, International Herald Tribune (2007) Brief description of Menchu's defeat at the polls
• May 22, 2008: Guatemala: Pérez Molina, Colom seek votes, Angus Reid Global Monitor (2007) Angus Reid Global Monitor : Election Tracker
• May 22, 2008: Guatemala: Center-left wins presidential elections in Guatemala, CNN (2007) Alvaro Colom of the center-left National Union of Hope party defeated retired Gen. Otto Perez Molina of the conservative Patriot Party in Guatemala's presidential race Sunday, according to results posted on the official election Web site.
• May 22, 2008: Guatemala: Colom wins Guatemalan presidency, Los Angeles Times (2007) Rural voters help the former industrial engineer defeat the 'firm hand' of former Gen. Otto Perez Molina in a presidential runoff.
• May 22, 2008: Guatemala: Colom Wins Presidency In Guatemalan Runoff, The Washington Post (2007) Álvaro Colom, who struggled with internal defections and disappointing poll numbers in the final stages of Guatemala's presidential campaign, won a startling victory Sunday.