Bernardo Arévalo, son of Juan José Arévalo, who was president of Guatemala during the 1944 Revolution, is the winner of the elections. "This victory belongs to the people of Guatemala and together we will fight against corruption," he said.
By Regina Perez. Km 169 Community Press.
The progressive candidate Bernardo Arévalo, from the Movimiento Semilla party, won the Presidency of the Republic, according to preliminary data from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal ?TSE?. While her contender Sandra Torres, from the National Unity of Hope ?UNE? he lost the election for the third time.
Arévalo, sociologist, elected deputy in 2019 and Karin Herrera, a scientist and professor at the University of San Carlos ?USAC? they had obtained 2 million 407 thousand 021 votes at 8:25 p.m., according to the Electoral Transmission of Preliminary Results system ?TREP?, an even higher result than the one obtained by President Alejandro Giammattei in 2019, when he obtained 1 million 907 thousand 767 votes, 57.95 percent.
"Today we accept with great humility this victory that the people of Guatemala have given us, the ballot boxes have expressed themselves and officially the TSE with 93.62 percent of the scrutinized acts has recognized the results and what the people shout is enough! ! of so much corruption." One of Arévalo's commitments is to fight corruption.
#ArevaloPresident ? This victory belongs to the people of Guatemala and together we will fight against corruption, said Bernardo Arévalo, president-elect of Guatemala.
Thank the population that supported the binomial in this electoral process.
? regina perez pic.twitter.com/YCe403wA5S
— Community Press Km169 (@PrensaComunitar) August 21, 2023
Arévalo also had a few words for Torres, his contender in this election, "I recognize Sandra Torres, we have different approaches in politics, but we guarantee her and her constituents that their rights as citizens will be promoted and protected without any distinction by the government of the new spring."
For her part, Herrera, vice president-elect, pointed out that they will create a government that is for all Guatemalans and that cares for all people, "regardless of the differences, we all share the love for Guatemala."
Both elected officials wore a pin with the Guatemalan flag instead of the party pin, as a sign that they are going to work for the citizenry. Arévalo said that the celebration of the population in the streets was not called by Semilla, but that it is spontaneous, "a celebration of the people."
After the results were known, thousands of citizens began to celebrate the victory both in the Plaza de la Constitución, the scene of the protests in 2015, and the place where the party closed its campaign, and in the Obelisk, in zone 10, located a few kilometers from the hotel where the party gave its press conference.
A group of people even arrived in front of the hotel where the party was celebrating the victory with the cry of "Yes we could." The presidential couple announced that they will hold a celebration with the population, however, they did not specify the place or date. Regarding his cabinet, he mentioned that it is still under discussion and that they will present it next week.
#ArevaloPresident ? "Yes it was possible, yes it was possible", this is how the population celebrates outside the hotel where Bernardo Arévalo and Karin Herrera celebrate with their team having won the Presidency with the Semilla party, against Sandra Torres of the UNE.
? @_Rahina_ pic.twitter.com/szBGSFeR2R
— Community Press Km169 (@PrensaComunitar) August 21, 2023
As reported by the president-elect at the press conference, so far he has been congratulated by presidents Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Nayib Bukele and Alejandro Giammattei.
Arevalo's day
The virtual winner had a hectic day, around 9 in the morning he went to vote at the La Patria school, located in zone 2, where dozens of journalists were waiting for him trying to take a photo or video of him. Calmly, he asked them to calm down and called on the public to come vote in peace and with joy.
Later, he accompanied his wife, Lucrecia Peinado, and his mother, Margarita de León, to vote, and then met with his team for lunch at a restaurant in the city. There he spoke to the press and regretted the threats received by the TSE magistrate, Blanca Alfaro, who announced that she will present her resignation next Tuesday.
The victory of the presidential binomial of Semilla was surprising in the first round since they did not appear in the polls. Support for the party has been massive since it went to the second round, despite the criminalization and prosecution against it by the Public Ministry ?MP? and the seventh judge Fredy Orellana, who ordered the cancellation of the match.
Despite this victory, it is hoped that the MP will continue with the criminal investigation against the party, which it claims to have been created with anomalies, such as the use of false signatures, since last Friday Curruchiche indicated that arrest warrants and other actions could be resumed this Monday.
However, the president-elect said that the party is calm because they know that the construction processes have been clear and transparent and that they will act to the extent that the MP decides or not to continue with this judicial persecution that he called illegal.
Results are preliminary
The presiding magistrate of the TSE, Irma Palencia, informed at 8:00 p.m., with 93 percent of the scrutinized minutes that Arévalo had 59.25 % of the votes while Torres had obtained 36.2 percent. In a matter of half an hour, all the minutes would be scrutinized, he indicated. According to the TSE, citizen participation was 44.9 percent.
Judge Gabriel Aguilera indicated that these are preliminary results and that we still have to wait for the work of the Municipal and Departmental Electoral Boards at the national level to make these results official.
Torres, former first lady, lost an election for the third time and canceled her scheduled press conference. In the 2019 election, the candidate obtained 1,384,044 votes, while in the 2023 elections, she obtained 1,499,589 votes.
Election day passed between complaints of people being carried to vote and the purchase of votes by the National Unity of Hope ?UNE? which earned him a complaint from the Semilla party in the Public Ministry.
However, calm prevailed and only isolated incidents were reported.
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