In fact, these are no ordinary elections for Central America's most populous nation. With two front-runners barred from the race and a third candidate arrested by the DEA on drug smuggling charges, Guatemalan voters were left to choose from a fragmented field, several of whom have been accused of links to criminal gangs and corruption networks.Torres, who is the candidate for the center-left Unidad Nacional de Esperanza (UNE) party, came in first place with more than 25% of the vote, according to preliminary results from the electoral tribunal, and will now face off against Alejandro Giammattei, the candidate for right-wing party Vamos who gained 14% of the vote, in a runoff vote on August 11. If she wins, Torres will become the first female president in socially conservative Guatemala, although she has previously exercised considerable power in the country.
A powerful first lady
From 2008-12 Torres was first lady to President Alvaro Colom, and ended up controlling many government social programs, according to Marielos Chang, a political scientist at the Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala City and co-founder of NGO Red Ciudadana, which aims to improve civic participation and strengthen institutions in Guatemala. Wielding considerable influence despite not being elected, Torres began to attract criticism due to a lack of transparency over funding. "Her position as first lady, acting as an adviser rather than part of the executive, allowed her to protect herself from congressional scrutiny," said Chang. However Torres has claimed that she never had immunity, even when she was first lady, and says she is the most investigated figure in Guatemalan politics.Mike Allison, professor of political science at the University of Scranton and an expert in Central American politics, agrees that the social programs and her "outsized role in her husband's administration" stoked some anger towards Torres that carries through to this day. While these programs alleviated some of the poverty in more rural areas of the country, they also helped to build support for Torres, according to Allison.Torres had planned to run in the 2011 election, but the Guatemalan constitution prohibits relatives of sitting presidents from running for the presidency. In what was widely viewed as an attempt to circumvent these rules, she divorced Colom shortly before the 2011 race, further polarizing public opinion. Her candidacy was ultimately rejected by the electoral court, leaving her out of the race. Torres has come to be seen as someone who believes the "end justifies the means," said Chang, who added that she has consolidated power in her UNE grouping in Congress as well as among mayors and judges that have favored her in the past. "She has managed to construct an electoral machine and a network inside public administration that works in her favor," Chang said.
Legal issues have stalked both candidates
In 2015, Torres was eligible to run in an election that she narrowly lost to former TV comedian Jimmy Morales, and the UNE is now under investigation for illicit campaign financing during the 2015 run. Prosecutors claim that UNE received around $2.5 million in undeclared donations while Torres was general secretary of the party January-June 2015, and have tried to get Torres' immunity from prosecution lifted over the case, but in February she told CNN that she is cooperating with the investigation, which she claims is politically motivated.CNN has attempted to contact representatives of UNE for comment."Allegations of corruption and other wrongdoing have surrounded their political parties, close advisers, and the candidates themselves for some time now," said Allison, who told CNN he does not have much confidence in Torres or her second-round rival Giammattei.
Torres' runoff opponent has run for president four times, and is known as the "eternal candidate," although he has never before reached the second round, said Chang. Although he has been absolved due to a lack of evidence, Giammattei once faced accusations of involvement in extrajudicial killings of prisoners during his time as director of the prison service. His right-wing party Vamos is a "recycling" of former parties that have been disbanded due to corruption scandals, said Chang, and many people say he is a "Jimmy Morales 2.0" due to his relationship with the same group of advisers as the current president. With a January poll showing an approval rating of just 36% for Morales, who has been dogged by corruption allegations of his own and ended the mandate of a UN-backed anti-corruption body popular with the public, that is far from a helpful association for Giammattei.CNN has attempted to contact representatives of Torres and Giammattei for comment.
Emergence of new political forces
Estuardo Galdamez, the presidential candidate for Morales' FCN-Nacion party, received just over 4% of the vote in last Sunday's election, the worst result ever for an incumbent party. The barring of two potential candidates who had been polling strongest — Thelma Aldana, the former attorney general, and Zury Rios, daughter of former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt — may have blown a traditionally fragmented political system even wider open, according to Allison, and there were a record 19 candidates for the presidency. However there were no clear candidates to whom Rios' and Aldana's voters would naturally migrate, said Allison.This fragmentation led to some surprising results, including the emergence of indigenous Maya Mam candidate Thelma Cabrera, who took fourth place with just over 10% of the vote. "Indigenous communities have always been excluded from society," said Jorge Raul Cruz, executive director of Fundacion Esquipulas, a think tank which works to strengthen democracy and civil society. "Cabrera broke all of the stereotypes."
Never before has an indigenous candidate won so many votes, and Cabrera's campaign marked a new foray into party politics for indigenous groups that have traditionally used protests and social movements to try and bring about change. Cruz emphasized that this was the most inclusive democratic process in Guatemalan history, and he is optimistic about the direction of the country after the first stage of what is only the country's eighth election since returning to democracy in 1985 following a period of military dictatorship. "The people want democracy to work," he said.
Criminal infiltration of politics remains a worry
While Cabrera represents a bright spot for the representation of Guatemalan's indigenous population, the success of the Union del Cambio Nacional (UCN) party in mayoral and congressional elections raises concerns over political infiltration by organized crime, according to Chang. In April, UCN presidential candidate Mario Estrada was arrested by DEA agents in Miami on drug trafficking charges. After his detention neither Estrada nor his lawyers have made any declarations on the accusations. Despite Estrada's arrest, UCN will become the third-largest party in congress, behind UNE and Vamos, said Chang.The 2019 electoral process has shown that Guatemala's democracy is at best very weak, and organized crime operates throughout state institutions, said Allison. After the Colom administration, former army officer Otto Perez Molina became president in 2012. By 2015 he had resigned following a corruption investigation that shook the governRead More – Source
