[NYTr] Guatemala: No Such Thing as a Peaceful Election

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Granma Daily - Aug 10, 2007
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/english/news/art22.html

41 Dead in Violence of Guatemalan Election Campaign

So far, 41 candidates and activists have been murdered during the
Guatemalan election campaign. The latest, Carlos de Leon Bravo, was a
candidate for mayor in the town of Catarina, Department of San Marcos,
said a Police source.

The body of the Encuentro por Guatemala (EG) candidate was found Sunday
murdered inside his car in the town of Coatepeque, some 260 kilometers
west of Guatemala City.

EG General Secretary Nineth Montenegro said Carlos De Leon Bravo was
found with three shots in his chest and one in the head.

De Leon Bravo’s death added to 40 others occurring in the lead up to
the September 9 elections for a new president, vice president, 158
legislators and 332 mayors.

The assassinated politician was a mayoral candidate for EG, led by 1992
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu, the party’s presidential
candidate.

The number of victims during the campaign is the most since the bloody
campaign of 1985 when an end came to the military governments.
(Argenpress)