GUATEMALA CITY, (Reuters) – Still reeling from a corruption scandal that felled their president three days ago, Guatemalans voted yesterday to elect a new leader in a tight contest that is likely to head to a second-round run-off.
Otto Perez resigned as president on Thursday and was jailed while a judge weighs charging him over a customs racket. The affair has gutted his government and plunged the poor Central American country into its worst political crisis in decades.
Voter anger over corruption has helped a little-known comedian to surge in opinion polls, while the three main contenders have vowed a crackdown on graft after mass protests on the streets.
Polls in the run-up to Sunday’s vote showed Jimmy Morales, a 46-year-old centrist and comic actor whose slogan “not corrupt, not a thief,” has resonated with disenchanted voters, going head-to-head with earlier favorite Manuel Baldi-zon, 45, a conservative businessman.
“We have suffered such great disappointments that you end up telling yourself there is no one to put your trust in,” 38-year-old housewife Lidia Mendoza said shortly before polling booths closed. She voted for Morales precisely because he was an outsider.
