Left wins elections in Guatemala

In the second round of Guatemala’s presidential elections, leftist Bernardo Arévalo, who was running against National Hope Party (UNE) leader Sandra Torres, won by a wide margin.

More than 98 percent of the votes were counted in yesterday’s elections in the country, according to data from the Electoral Court of Guatemala. Arevalo, who finished the election in second place with 11.77 percent of the vote in the first round, finished ahead with 58 percent of the vote in the second round.

Arévalo celebrated the election result by sharing “Long live Guatemala” on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The current president of the country, Alejandro Giammattei, congratulated Arévalo on the social network X.

Bernardo Arévalo, 64, the son of former Guatemalan President Juan José, previously served as Vice Foreign Minister, Ambassador in Madrid and Consul in Israel. Arévalo has become known as the “anti-corruption candidate” who distances himself from the traditional political class that has ruled the country for years.

ELECTIONS IN ECUADOR ARE IN THE 2nd TOUR

In Ecuador, on the other hand, in the elections held yesterday, the scrutiny of 85 percent of the votes was completed, and the elections are expected to go to the second round since no candidate reaches a quorum.

Left-wing candidate Luisa González led the election with 33 percent, while former congressman Daniel Noboa received 24 percent of the vote.

Under Ecuadorian law, a candidate must receive at least 40 percent of the vote to be victorious, provided they receive 50 percent of the vote or within 10 points of their closest rival. Consequently, González and Noboa, who received the most votes, will face each other in the second round.

For his part, Christian Zurita, who was nominated to replace Fernando Villavicencio, who was assassinated shortly before the elections, finished the election in 3rd place, receiving 16 percent of the votes. (AA)