2 Rightist Parties in Guatemala Win Congress Majority
Two rightist parties have captured enough seats in Guatemala’s new legislature to change the constitution.
The Guatemalan Republican Front, led by former dictator and retired Gen. Jose Efrain Rios Montt, won 32 seats in the 80-seat Congress elected Sunday. The National Advanced Party won 24 seats. Results were announced Monday.
The results raised the possibility that Rios Montt could run for the presidency, a post he held for about 17 months after seizing power in a 1982 coup.
Under the constitution, Rios Montt cannot run because he seized power by force. But the alliance of rightist parties has enough votes in the legislature to amend the constitution to allow him to run.
Human rights groups have termed Rios Montt’s rule one of the bloodiest periods in Guatemala’s history. Yet despite his violent past, Rios Montt is a charismatic figure in the country and has embraced an evangelistic faith shared by about one-quarter of Guatemalans.
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