Guatemala:Thousands of observers fanned out across Guatemala yesterday along with 30,000 police and soldiers, during presidential elections in a poor and desperately unequal country still deeply scarred by its long civil war and suffering a surge in violent crime.
Retired general Otto Perez Molina, of the Patriotic Party, a former head of military intelligence accused of involvement in wartime atrocities, has promised to fight crime by putting more soldiers on the streets.
His rival, Alvaro Colom of the National Unity of Hope party, is a businessman and bureaucrat who denies claims that his campaign is infused with drug money. He calls himself a centrist and has pledged to attack corruption and increase spending in health and education to "get to the root" of the security problem.
Opinion polls last week predicted a tight race with Mr Perez Molina slightly ahead. Exit polls are banned, but a quick count is expected to be released early today. There were early reports of a poor turnout.
Almost 6,000 people were killed last year in Guatemala, out of a population of 13 million. The election campaign itself has claimed about 50 lives. Violence is usually blamed on gangs of youths, but many analysts also point to the penetration of the state by organised criminal groups intent on eliminating rivals. There are also claims of social cleansing by death squads.
"If the president doesn't have character and strength, we run the risk of becoming a narco state," Mr Perez Molina said this week. His slogan, "a Hard Hand", is accompanied by a clenched fist logo.
Mr Colom, whose symbol is a dove, accuses his rival of seeking a return to military rule. "The population knows that we cannot go back to the past," he said.
The election comes almost 11 years after the end of the 36-year civil war, when military governments fought left-wing guerrillas with extreme brutality. Most of the dead were civilians killed at the merest suspicion of sympathising with the insurgents.
Peace accords in 1996 promised a fairer and demilitarised society, but implementation has been slow and patchy.
Guatemala lacks the kind of strong radical left movement seen elsewhere in Latin America. Indigenous activist Rigoberta Menchu received just 3 per cent of the vote in the first round in September.
- (Guardian service)