Guatemala votes in presidential run-off

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2007

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) — A former general and a social democratic businessman failed to electrify people in Guatemala where about half of the six million elegible voters took part Sunday in a run-off presidential election.

Voting booths closed at 6 pm (0001 GMT Monday) and pre-election surveys predicted a close race, with retired general Otto Perez Molina holding an advantage of four to six percentage points over businessman Alvaro Colom, a tight gap falling within the margin of error.

Colom, who has vowed to battle poverty, took 28 percent in the first round of voting in September, fewer than four points ahead of Perez Molina, 56, who wants to tackle crime.

The retired general wants to deploy the army, double the size of the police force and bring back the...