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Guatemala court clears way for runoff presidential vote / Photo: Johan ORDONEZ - AFP
Guatemala court clears way for runoff presidential vote
Guatemala's top electoral court on Wednesday cleared the way for a runoff presidential election next month, ending a stretch of legal maneuvering after an inconclusive first round.
The runoff will feature two social democrats -- Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arevalo -- seeking to lead a Central American country beset by poverty, corruption and gang violence.
This means the country will soon have its first leftist president in more than a decade.
Torres and Arevalo finished first and second in the first round of voting on June 25 but neither won a majority.
The results have been held up in other courts amid allegations of irregularities, but they are now officially valid, said Mario Velazquez, secretary general of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
Torres is the ex-wife of former president Alvaro Colom and Arevalo is the son of reformist former president Juan Jose Arevalo.
In the June 25 elections, Torres won 15.86 percent of the vote and Arevalo garnered 11.77 percent, the highest totals among 22 candidates.
D.Prieto--HdM
