According to preliminary results, Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arévalo will compete in the second round of Guatemala’s presidential elections on August 20. Bernardo Arévalo, progressive congressman, was the great surprise by unexpectedly advancing to the second round, where he will face former first lady Sandra Torres.
With 97% of the ballots counted, Torres was leading with 15.7% of the votes, followed by Arévalo with 12%. The latter managed to distance himself from the other twenty candidates who participated in the elections, which were marked by the fragmentation of the political parties.
Until Sunday, polls indicated that the favorites were Torres, the ultraconservative ex-deputy Zury Ríos (daughter of the late dictator Efraín Ríos Montt), and journalist Edmond Mulet. However, Arevalo was not even mentioned, as his name was lost among the rest of the candidates.
Against all odds, the first counts confirmed that a part of the citizenry had opted for the candidate of Movimiento Semilla, a party committed to fighting Guatemala’s endemic corruption and offering other proposals. At the beginning, there was a possibility that Mulet would advance to the second round, but as the hours went by, the difference with Arévalo widened.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced in a press conference that the trends were definitive, although the official results will be announced on Tuesday. The second round will take place on August 20 in a climate of uncertainty since there is no clear favorite.
The winner of the second round will assume the presidency on January 14 next year, succeeding Alejandro Giammattei, whose administration has been marked by scandals and has low popularity levels, hovering around 20%. In addition, the high level of abstention in the elections was highlighted, as null votes exceeded 17.4%, surpassing the support obtained by any candidate.
This reflects the weariness of many Guatemalans with a political system that has failed to improve the living conditions of the population, where poverty persists and has generated authoritarian leadership marked by corruption. For this reason, many citizens decided to annul their votes or express their distrust through insults on the ballots.
As for the candidates, Sandra Torres has participated in previous presidential elections and had scandals related to her campaigns. On the other hand, Bernardo Arévalo is a 64-year-old sociologist who seeks to continue the legacy of his father, Juan José Arévalo, the first president elected by popular vote in 1944. Arevalo has had a distinguished diplomatic career and founded the Seed Movement in 2017. His presidential candidacy has positioned him as one of the most important political figures in Guatemala.