Bernado Arévalo’s victory comes amid growing concerns over state of democracy in Central America
The Guatemalan anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo has been voted in as president, according to preliminary results, a victory that until recently seemed impossible and which many voters hope will end years of rule dogged by allegations of corruption and authoritarianism.
Arévalo, a 64-year-old ex-diplomat and son of a former president, had a 58% to 37% lead over the former first lady Sandra Torres with 99% of votes counted.
His victory comes as violence and food insecurity roil the country, triggering fresh waves of migration. Guatemalans represent the largest number of Central Americans seeking to enter the US.
Arévalo has vowed to “purge institutions co-opted by the corrupt” and to get people committed to what he calls the fight for justice to return to Guatemala after scores of prosecutors, judges and journalists fled the country. He faces blowback from entrenched interests and a Congress that his party does not control.
“This victory belongs to the people of Guatemala and now, united as the Guatemalan people, we will fight against corruption,” Arévalo told a news conference after his win.
The incumbent president, Alejandro Giammattei, congratulated Arévalo on Twitter, now known as X, and invited him to start an “ordered transition” once results were formalised. The new president will take over on 14 January.
Outside the Las Américas hotel in the capital, where Arévalo was due to speak, supporters gathered, blaring horns, waving national flags and cheering.
Many Guatemalans said they hoped Arévalo’s win would herald a better future. “We have waited for this moment for many years,” said Carlos de León Samayoa, 27, as he celebrated on the streets of Guatemala City. “I feel pretty emotional.”
Torres cancelled her post-vote news conference scheduled for Sunday evening, local media reported.
Arévalo unexpectedly emerged out of political obscurity to build a large anti-corruption movement with his Semilla party after many other opposition candidates were barred from running. His victory marks a repudiation of Guatemala’s established political parties that wield huge influence.
When Arévalo landed a surprise second-place finish in June’s first round of voting, official results were delayed as opponents alleged there had been irregularities and his party was briefly suspended at the request of a prominent prosecutor before Guatemala’s top court reversed the ban.
Risa Grais-Targow, an analyst at the political risk consultancy firm Eurasia Group, said she expected attacks on Arévalo to continue. “The ruling pact will likely continue to target electoral officials and Arévalo’s Semilla party with investigations ahead of January’s change in government,” she added.
Beyond his anti-corruption policies, Arévalo said he wanted to expand relations with China alongside Guatemala’s longstanding allegiance with Taiwan. How he plans to do that remains to be seen, given China’s policy that no country it has ties with can maintain separate diplomatic relations with Taipei.
This year, Honduras became the latest country in the region to switch allegiance from Taiwan to China.
There were no reports of violence or disorderliness at the polls.
A key representative of the Organization of American States, which has 86 election observers in Guatemala, said the voting had gone smoothly. Eladio Loizaga, the head of the mission, said the election had “fulfilled all the demanding obligations”.
The election is being closely watched by the international community, including the US, after campaigning was marred by attempts by some officials to remove Arévalo and his Semilla party from the race.
Giammattei vowed to ensure an orderly vote and transition of power. But many Guatemalans remain sceptical, having seen the government in recent years expel investigators from a UN-backed anti-corruption body and target judges and anti-corruption campaigners, many of whom fled into exile.
“The country Bernardo Arévalo will be receiving is very complicated,” said Ana María Méndez, the director for Central America at the Washington Office on Latin America thinktank. “I see it more as a transition government, to restore the democratic values that have been broken in Guatemala.”
source: Guardian
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