Polls close in Guatemala’s presidential runoff as voters hope for real change

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN and SONIA PÉREZ D.
Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalans have voted to elect a new president, hoping that the country’s next leader will provide relief from rising prices and get a handle on crime and corruption. The two candidates offer starkly different paths forward. Former first lady Sandra Torres became an ally of outgoing, deeply unpopular President Alejandro Giammattei in her third bid for the presidency. Her opponent, Bernardo Arévalo, with the progressive Seed Movement, rode a wave of popular resentment toward politics to his surprise spot in Sunday’s runoff. Central America’s most populous country and the region’s largest economy continues to struggle with widespread poverty and violence that have driven hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans to emigrate in recent years.