Insecurity and Little
Information Mark
Guatemala Elections
Insecurity and little
information are the main
problems detected by a
Mission of Observers of
the Organization of
American States that is
supervising the
elections in Guatemala.
"A series of violent
events have taken place,
including more than 20
homicides that have
directly or indirectly
involved participants in
the political process,"
Mission Chief Diego
Garcia Sayan told a news
conference on Monday.
During the presentation
of the third report on
the development of the
election campaign,
Garcia Sayan admitted
that he had also
received denunciations
on intimidation and
threats against
candidates and election
officials in some
municipalities.
Although the observers
asked the Attorney
General's Office and the
Government Ministry for
information about the
situation, none of the
institutions has replied
to the mission's
request.
After visiting all 332
municipalities in the
country, the Mission of
Observers drew up a
conflict map pinpointing
the places where there
are possible hotspots of
violence.
The experts said that
just 14 days before the
elections, the
information on how and
where voters must cast
their votes is
insufficient, both in
rural and urban areas.
When asked by Prensa
Latina whether a
shortage of prosecutors
might result in problems
at the polling stations
in case of a technical
tie between parties,
Garcia Sayan said that
it would be necessarily
so, although he admitted
that their presence
would reaffirm
institutionalism.
Sixteen parties will
participate in the
general elections in
Guatemala, where the
president and vice
president, 158 deputies
and 332 municipal
governments will be
elected in September.
Although 14 candidates
are running for the
presidency, two are far
ahead in the race. They
are Alvaro Colom, of
National Unity for Hope,
and Otto Perez Molina,
of the Patriotic Party,
who might go to a second
round on November 4. |
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