Guatemalans worried by corruption, poverty, gang violence and migration head to the polls on Sunday to decide which of two candidates will be their next president: center-left former first lady Sandra Torres or conservative Alejandro Giammattei.
The second-round runoff will determine who replaces outgoing president Jimmy Morales, who leaves office with his popularity at rock bottom and a corruption investigation hanging over his head.
At the top of the agenda for the country's new leader will be dealing with the fallout from a controversial new migration pact with the United States along with tackling entrenched corruption and improving education and health care.
Below is a summary of the two candidates.
- The authoritarian -
Torres comfortably topped the first round of voting in June in her third bid for the Guatemalan presidency.
Four years ago she lost to Morales and according to opinion polls, history looks likely to repeat itself with another defeat.
Known for her strong character, the 63-year-old candidate for the center-left National Unity of Hope (UNE) party has been accused of authoritarianism and has long been suspected of corruption.
In 2011, she divorced then-president Alvaro Colom so she could run to replace him, although the country's constitutional court prevented her from doing so.
"The people know I've prepared to govern, that I have experience and that I'll deliver results from day one," she said in a recent local television interview.
She is running on a campaign to tackle poverty by generating employment and a return to the social programs she initiated during her ex-husband's presidency.
Born in 1955 in the northern region of Peten, which is known for its drug trafficking, Torres earned a degree in communication and ran a textile business before entering politics.
In 2002 she divorced her first husband, with whom she has four children.
Conservatives have accused Torres of having been a Marxist guerrilla during Guatemala's 1960-96 civil war, something she denies.
Influential Guatemalan businessman Dionisio Gutierrez recently told Torres that if she wins she should not "choose the path of intolerance, authoritarianism and the repression of your detractors."
"The people know you're a questionable politician with a history that should worry any citizen," added Gutierrez.
Among her campaign promises, Torres vows to oppose same-sex marriage and the legalization of abortion, earning the praise of Guatemala's religious right.
- The 'angry' conservative -
Giammattei is running for president for the fourth time, and with a fourth different party.
A doctor from the conservative VAMOS party, Giammattei has promised to combat insecurity with drastic measures such as reviving the death penalty and treating violent gang members as terrorists.
The 63-year-old walks with crutches due to the multiple sclerosis he developed 40 years ago, but he's striding ahead in opinion polls with 61 percent compared to Torres's 39 percent, according to figures released by Prodatos, published Thursday in the Prensa Libre newspaper.
He is also known for his fits of rage.
"Those around him say he's impulsive, angry, has little control, despotic, tyrannical, unpredictable, capricious, vindictive, uncontrollable, without any emotional intelligence," said investigative website Nomada.
He was accused of killing seven inmates while director of a prison, a crime for which he spent 10 months behind bars in 2010 before being acquitted when prosecutors failed to prove he had played a role.
In his book, "Tales of an Injustice," published in 2012, Giammattei spoke of his bitterness at the experience, but said prison makes you view "life from a different perspective."
A father of three who is separated, Giammattei is also against same-sex marriage, abortion and constitutional reforms that would promote "a globalist agenda."
His general approach could be summed up by his vow to combat insecurity, drug trafficking, organized crime and gangs "with testosterone."
He also advocates classifying members of criminal gang organizations as terrorists
Additionally, he would like to put prisoners to work making school desks, license plates, and hospital towels and pillows.
Giammattei has advocated the creation of a national security commission to tackle Guatemala's crime issues -- the country has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America with 4,500 homicides a year.
Most controversially, though, he wants to reintroduce the death penalty, which has been suspended since 2000.
When it comes to the crucial migration issue, Giammattei has been careful not to upset President Donald Trump by speaking out against a US pact with Mexico to block Central American migrants from reaching the United States.
Giammattei has, however, promised to tackle the causes of illegal migration.
Guatemalans worried by corruption, poverty, gang violence and migration head to the polls on Sunday to decide which of two candidates will be their next president: center-left former first lady Sandra Torres or conservative Alejandro Giammattei.
The second-round runoff will determine who replaces outgoing president Jimmy Morales, who leaves office with his popularity at rock bottom and a corruption investigation hanging over his head.
At the top of the agenda for the country’s new leader will be dealing with the fallout from a controversial new migration pact with the United States along with tackling entrenched corruption and improving education and health care.
Below is a summary of the two candidates.
– The authoritarian –
Torres comfortably topped the first round of voting in June in her third bid for the Guatemalan presidency.
Four years ago she lost to Morales and according to opinion polls, history looks likely to repeat itself with another defeat.
Known for her strong character, the 63-year-old candidate for the center-left National Unity of Hope (UNE) party has been accused of authoritarianism and has long been suspected of corruption.
In 2011, she divorced then-president Alvaro Colom so she could run to replace him, although the country’s constitutional court prevented her from doing so.
“The people know I’ve prepared to govern, that I have experience and that I’ll deliver results from day one,” she said in a recent local television interview.
She is running on a campaign to tackle poverty by generating employment and a return to the social programs she initiated during her ex-husband’s presidency.
Born in 1955 in the northern region of Peten, which is known for its drug trafficking, Torres earned a degree in communication and ran a textile business before entering politics.
In 2002 she divorced her first husband, with whom she has four children.
Conservatives have accused Torres of having been a Marxist guerrilla during Guatemala’s 1960-96 civil war, something she denies.
Influential Guatemalan businessman Dionisio Gutierrez recently told Torres that if she wins she should not “choose the path of intolerance, authoritarianism and the repression of your detractors.”
“The people know you’re a questionable politician with a history that should worry any citizen,” added Gutierrez.
Among her campaign promises, Torres vows to oppose same-sex marriage and the legalization of abortion, earning the praise of Guatemala’s religious right.
– The ‘angry’ conservative –
Giammattei is running for president for the fourth time, and with a fourth different party.
A doctor from the conservative VAMOS party, Giammattei has promised to combat insecurity with drastic measures such as reviving the death penalty and treating violent gang members as terrorists.
The 63-year-old walks with crutches due to the multiple sclerosis he developed 40 years ago, but he’s striding ahead in opinion polls with 61 percent compared to Torres’s 39 percent, according to figures released by Prodatos, published Thursday in the Prensa Libre newspaper.
He is also known for his fits of rage.
“Those around him say he’s impulsive, angry, has little control, despotic, tyrannical, unpredictable, capricious, vindictive, uncontrollable, without any emotional intelligence,” said investigative website Nomada.
He was accused of killing seven inmates while director of a prison, a crime for which he spent 10 months behind bars in 2010 before being acquitted when prosecutors failed to prove he had played a role.
In his book, “Tales of an Injustice,” published in 2012, Giammattei spoke of his bitterness at the experience, but said prison makes you view “life from a different perspective.”
A father of three who is separated, Giammattei is also against same-sex marriage, abortion and constitutional reforms that would promote “a globalist agenda.”
His general approach could be summed up by his vow to combat insecurity, drug trafficking, organized crime and gangs “with testosterone.”
He also advocates classifying members of criminal gang organizations as terrorists
Additionally, he would like to put prisoners to work making school desks, license plates, and hospital towels and pillows.
Giammattei has advocated the creation of a national security commission to tackle Guatemala’s crime issues — the country has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America with 4,500 homicides a year.
Most controversially, though, he wants to reintroduce the death penalty, which has been suspended since 2000.
When it comes to the crucial migration issue, Giammattei has been careful not to upset President Donald Trump by speaking out against a US pact with Mexico to block Central American migrants from reaching the United States.
Giammattei has, however, promised to tackle the causes of illegal migration.
