The Under is Looking Pretty Good

On Monday, we learned that Alvaro Colom and wife Sandra Torres are divorcing so that she can run for president of Guatemala and honestly, I think that is pathetic I wrote that I didn't think that the announcement would help her standing in the 2011 election. I bet that the percentage of people supporting her candidacy would drop below ten percent in the next survey.

Well, if preliminary indications are anything I am looking good. Within twelve hours of letting people call in to voice their opinion, Prensa Libre received 32,414 phone calls. It's headline best sums up the results - Separación de Torres y Colom provoca repudio en Voto Libre. Out of the 23 or so thousand valid votes, 98.02% rejected the move.

Internet polls were more favorable to Torres. There 19% supported the Colom's decision. And to be fair, most calls were from the capital and department of Guatemala while only a few hundred calls were from the countryside. Therefore Torres' support is probably a bit higher than the nonscientific survey would let on.

Here's an interview where Colom speaks about his impending divorce that is a sacrifice for the "governability" of the country.



It's going to be tough for supporters to switch from Torres to Perez Molina so maybe Caballeros will be helped by the divorce.

Update: NPR also carried out an English-language interview with Guatemalan journalist Julie Lopez.


Finally, El Periodico interviews with several Guatemalan public officials, including Roxanna Baldetti, vice presidential candidate for the Patriotic Party, about Torres' campaign from CNN.