Election Close in Guatemala; Runoff Likely

A tough army critic and a major newspaper publisher headed toward a one-two finish in Guatemala’s presidential election today, almost certainly forcing a runoff election in December.

Between 70% and 80% of Guatemala’s 2.75 million registered voters cast ballots Sunday to chose a president from among eight civilian candidates and end 31 years of military rule.

The official Supreme Electoral Tribunal today released returns for nearly 24% of the total vote.

Vinicio Cerezo of the moderate Christian Democratic Party was in the lead with 193,785 votes, or about 40% of those counted. Cerezo, 42, has been a longtime critic of military rule in Guatemala and has long been the symbol of the movement to end it. He has also been the victim of several assassination attempts by suspected right-wing death squads with probable links to past governments.

Jorge Carpio, publisher of El Grafico newspaper and standard bearer of the center-right Union for a Democratic Center, garnered 103,324 votes, or about 22% of the total. Carpio formed his party in 1983 specifically to mount his candidacy for the presidency and has been accused by most other parties of using his newspaper to promote his race.

If the voting trend holds and neither gets an absolute majority, they will meet in a runoff election Dec. 8.