GUATEMALA CITY — Retired right-wing general Otto Perez Molina vowed to crack down on Guatemala’s raging drug violence and called for unity in a divided Congress Monday after winning a presidential runoff vote.
The 61-year-old won 53.7 percent of the vote against 46.3 percent for populist businessman Manuel Baldizon in the nation bordering Mexico, according to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, with abstentions just under 40 percent.
Although the lush country famed for Mayan ruins has vast social problems — with more than half the population of 14 million living in poverty — the campaign was dominated by the issue of insecurity and growing drug violence.
Brutal attacks from Mexico’s Zetas drug gang have joined lingering political attacks in the Central American nation still struggling to emerge from a 36-year civil war, which ended 15 years ago.
«To those groups of drug traffickers, I say they will encounter a president who has made his mind up to take back control of the territory,» said Perez, set to become the first military man to lead Guatemala since the end of army rule 25 years ago.
«Guatemala isn’t a destination (for drugs) but a place of storage and transit, but now it’s paying with young people starting to take drugs.»
The president-elect inherits a state heading for bankruptcy and said he would seek reform to increase tax collection from 10 to 14 percent of gross domestic product.
«This is an effort we have to make,» Perez said.
The retired general and his Patriotic Party (PP) face tricky negotiations in the one-chamber Congress, where they have 54 of 158 seats.
The white-haired ex-general called on lawmakers to «put the interests of Guatemala first and leave personal interests aside.»
The outgoing center-left party of President Alvaro Colom has 47 seats and aims to keep issues of widespread poverty, unemployment and malnutrition at the forefront of debates.
Colom, who is limited to a single term, managed to break a half-century of domination by the hard right but struggled to reform the Central American nation with limited means and a fragile majority.
His National Unity of Hope (UNE) party failed to present a candidate because his wife, Sandra Torres — who filed for divorce to try to run for office legally — was disqualified.
Perez, who lost to Colom the last time around, convinced voters he was best placed to reduce a murder rate of 18 per day, six times the world average, saying he would use the army to fight drug traffickers.
Baldizon, a 41-year-old from the Renewed Democratic Liberty (LIDER) party, promised to increase use of the death penalty.
Experts said the tough stance of both candidates underlined concerns about security, but they criticized the lack of concrete proposals to reduce poverty.
«They talk about it in generalized terms, but they haven’t said how they’ll tackle or reduce it and that’s worrying,» said political analyst Alvaro Pop.
Nobel peace laureate and indigenous activist Rigoberta Menchu congratulated Perez on Monday, after she failed to win through to the second round.
«He must find answers in a maximum of six months to issues of security, the poverty crisis and hunger, and the economic crisis,» Menchu said on local radio.
Perez — who represented the army to sign peace accords in 1996 — has denied accusations that rights abuses took place under his command during the war, in which some 200,000 people are believed to have been killed or gone missing.
He will take over from center left President Alvaro Colom on January 14.
For the first time, a woman, Roxana Baldetti, is set to become Guatemala’s vice president.
Source: AFP