Centre-Leftist Wins Guatemalan Presidency

Violence was a key issue, because Guatemala has more the 5,000 homicides a year, among a population of 12.7 million. More than 50 people were killed during the campaign, including candidates. But with half the population living on less than $2 a day, poverty is also a huge concern. Colom suggested poverty caused violence, and said he would clean up corrupt judges and police. Perez had promised to bring in the death penalty, hire more police and use soldiers to fight crime. The polls were heavily guarded, with more than 30,000 police and soldiers standing by. About 20,000 observers monitored the vote. Guatemala is still split by the 36-year civil war which saw leftist rebels fighting the military. When it ended in 1996, hundreds of thousands of people had been killed, many in massacres lead by the army. Sunday's vote "is a 'no' to Guatemala's tragic history," Reuters reported Colom as saying. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/11/04/guatemala-vote.html

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