Anti-democratic actions and government corruption are key reasons many Guatemalans migrate to the US.
Alejandro Giammattei is a former prison official whose tenure was tainted by the 2006 mass killing of seven prisoners. He was accused but never indicted on conspiracy charges in those deaths.
AP Photo/ Santiago Billy
Naomi Roht-Arriaza, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
Conservative Alejandro Giammattei beat former first lady Sandra Torres with 60% of the vote. But turnout was the lowest in Guatemala’s modern history, in apparent protest of both candidates.
Indigenous rights defender Thelma Cabrera, presidential candidate of the Movement for the Liberation of the People, delivers a speech during a campaign rally in Palin, Guatemala. She finished fourth, but made history.
(AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Maya candidate Thelma Cabrera’s unprecedented campaign for president was unsuccessful, but hope has not been dashed. Her run suggests that Guatemala’s grassroots opposition is slowly gaining ground.