Guatemalans went to the polls on Sunday to pick a new president, days after the previous president resigned amid an investigation into fraud and corruption. The winner, results released Monday indicate, is Jimmy Morales, a comic actor who once played a cowboy who accidentally ended up president. The case of life imitating art isn't a done deal, though. Morales, 42, won just 24 percent of the vote, with 98 percent of results tallied, meaning there will be a runoff election on Oct. 25.
Morales' first place showing was unexpected. It's not clear if he will face conservative businessman Manuel Baldizón or Sandra Torres, a left-leaning former first lady, in the second round. Both of them earned just over 19 percent of the vote, and Torres is ahead by about 5,000 votes, but analysts expect a partial recount. Baldizón had long been expected to succeed disgraced former President Otto Perez Molina, and was leading in the polls until recently; his right-wing party supported Perez Molina up until days before he resigned last week. Morales, on the other hand, ran on the platform "Neither corrupt or a thief," and his lack of political experience is seen as a political plus in this anti-establishment moment. "The electorate has been searching for a political virgin, and that virgin is Jimmy Morales," economist and journalist Enrique "Quique" Godoy, tells The Wall Street Journal.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Making a police state out of the liberal university'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
8 looming climate tipping points that imperil our planetThe Explainer New reports detail the thresholds we may be close to crossing
-
Try 6 free issues of The Week JuniorSpark your child's curiosity with The Week Junior - the award-winning current affairs magazine for 8-14s.
-
Ukraine cheers House approval of military aidSpeed Read Following a lengthy struggle, the House has approved $95 billion in aid for Ukraine and Israel
-
Poland, Germany nab alleged anti-Ukraine spiesSpeed Read A man was arrested over a supposed Russian plot to kill Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
-
Israel hits Iran with retaliatory airstrikeSpeed Read The attack comes after Iran's drone and missile barrage last weekend
-
Peter Murrell: Sturgeon's husband charged over SNP 'embezzlement' claimsSpeed Read SNP expresses 'shock' as former chief executive rearrested in long-running investigation into claims of mishandled campaign funds
-
Mark Menzies: Tories investigate MP after 'bad people' cash claimsSpeed Read Fylde MP will sit as an independent while party looks into allegations he misused campaign funds on medical expenses and blackmail pay-out
-
Why Johnson won't just pass Ukraine aidSpeed Read The House Speaker could have sent $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine — but it would have split his caucus
-
Sudan on brink of collapse after a year of warSpeed Read 18 million people face famine as the country continues its bloody downward spiral
-
Trump's first criminal trial starts with jury picksSpeed Read The former president faces charges related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels
