Runoff Likely in Wake of Guatemala Election

Guatemalan opposition candidate Alfonso Portillo, whose party was founded by a former military dictator, led the country’s presidential election but failed to avoid a runoff, near-final results showed Monday.

With 97.6% of the vote counted, Portillo, of the rightist Guatemalan Republican Front, took 47.8% of the vote in Guatemala’s first presidential election since a 1996 peace accord ended a 35-year civil war.

That was short of the majority he needed to avoid a Dec. 26 runoff with Oscar Berger of the ruling Party for the National Advancement, who got 30.31% of the vote.

Portillo, 48, all but proclaimed himself Guatemala’s next president Monday, saying he would begin assembling his Cabinet and preparing a policy agenda.

To assure a second-round victory, Portillo must woo big-business support away from Berger’s camp and convince international donors of his commitment to the peace process, analysts said.

Alvaro Colom of the New Nation Alliance coalition, which includes Guatemala’s former leftist guerrillas, drew 12.32% of the vote.

The constitution barred outgoing President Alvaro Arzu from seeking reelection, and he will step down Jan. 14.

The candidacy of Portillo, whose party is led by Gen. Efrain Rios Montt, Guatemala’s former military dictator, appeared in danger when he admitted killing two men during a brawl in the 1980s. He said he acted in self-defense, then fled because he had no chance for a fair trial. He turned the incident to his benefit, telling voters that a man who defends his life will defend the lives of his people.