In an election that marred by low voter turnout, conservative Alejandro Giammattei has been elected president in Guatemala. The 63-year-old former surgeon defeated former first lady Sandra Torres in a run-off election with 58.26 percent of the votes. Torres, a social democrat, won 42 per cent.
Supreme Electoral Tribunal data shows that only about 40 percent of the registered votes were polled in the August 11 election.
Sandra Torres was disliked by many voters for the role she played while her husband, Álvaro Colom, was in power. Colom was president from 2008 to 2012. In those years, she allegedly acted like Argentina’s most powerful and controversial woman Evita who rose to prominence from poverty.
Thrice defeated by voters in his previous runs to become the the president of Guatemala, Giammattei of the center-right Vamos party will assume charge on January 14.
Guatemala, a country of 17 million people in Central America, is now plagued by widespread poverty and unemployment and issue of corruption. On his campaign trail, Giammattei, who once led the country's prison system, had promised to take tough measures on crime and treat gang members "like terrorists."
"Today is a new period of the country, " Giammattei told his supporters who gathered at the party's headquarters in Guatemala City. "Those who voted for us, those who did not vote for us, and those who did not go to vote, it does not matter. Today we need to unite, today I am the president of all Guatemalans."
US Secretary of States Michael R. Pompeo spoke with Giammattei to congratulate him on his victory in the election. The Secretary commended the people of Guatemala for a successful free, fair, and transparent election and reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to working with the new Giammattei administration.
Guatemala has traditionally maintained close ties with the Jewish state of Israel and moved its embassy to Jerusalem after the Trump administration decided to shift its embassy.
In July, the Trump administration has made a deal with Guatemala to reduce the numbers of migrants that crosses the southern border. The agreement signed by the outgoing administration of President Jimmy Morales says that migrants who enter Guatemala should apply for asylum in Guatemala and not in the US.