Monday, September 24, 2007
Guatemala: 2007 Elections and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service
Summary:
Guatemala
held presidential, congressional, and mayoral elections on September 9, 2007. The dominant issue in the campaign was security,
and the 2007 election campaigns were the most violent since the return to democracy in 1985, with 51candidates, activists,
and family members killed. No candidate for president received a majority of the votes, triggering a November 4 run-off between
the two leading candidates, Álvaro Colom, a businessman from the National Union for Hope (UNE), and Otto Pérez Molina, a former
general of the Patriot Party. Colom won 18 out of 22 departments, garnering most of his support from rural regions, whereas
the majority of Pérez Molina’s support came from Guatemala City and the surrounding area. Since no party won a majority
in Congress, the next president will have to build coalitions to achieve his legislative agenda. U.S. interests in Guatemala
include consolidating democracy, securing human rights, establishing security and promoting trade, though U.S. immigration
policy has been a point of tension in bilateral relations.
(For the complete six page report, link to Guatemala: 2007 Elections and Issues for Congress.)
