Guatemala 2011 presidential election

[Bacon King]

What is up with the "colorful" list of candidates

Welcome to Latin American elections!

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Rigoberta Menchú was the leftist in the race.

[Bacon King]

Also, on a hilarious note, Baldizón has publicly declared that Guatemala will win the World Cup if he's elected.

[Bacon King]

I don't know too much about Guatemala specifically, but I'd assume the 36-year civil war continues to carry a lot of stigma in the country today. Menchú's identity is strongly tied to this conflict, of course; she earned her infamy (and Nobel Peace Prize) after publishing the book that brought widespread international attention to the Guatemalan Civil War.

Not even twenty years ago, villagers in this country were advised to tip off the local paramilitary death squad to any "suspected leftists" they knew (and today, only a handful of these murderers have so far been punished). Given this background I'm not surprised to see the woman who was essentially the public face for the anti-government forces receiving such little support.

[Bacon King]

So what did the government party do after having their candidate excluded? Did they endorse a different candidate, or call for a blank vote, or what?

After looking around the internet, I can't find much at all regarding UNE's actions for this election since the incumbent's (ex-)wife was barred from running. It would probably help if their official party website didn't have its account suspended (though in my search, something I did find that was interesting is the fact that the Constitution also prohibits people who seize power in a coup from being elected president; this restriction has been been conveniently ignored before and is conveniently ignored now).

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