Colom - Torres Divorce Halted

El Periodico

Mac Margolis at The Daily Beast has a brief rundown on Sandra Torres and Alvaro Colom's selfless act of divorce in Guatemala's Political Telenovela: First Couple Divorces.

On Friday, a Guatemalan judge temporarily blocked the divorce proceedings. The judge has also stated that she has already received death threats warning her about the consequences should she grant the divorce. Specifically, the "group defending the constitution" intended to kill a member of the judge's family should she grant the divorce which is obviously despicable.

The judge is likely to grant the First Couple a divorce. Given that it is a mutual request, it appears that there's little legal reason to stop it. However, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has the power to prevent her candidacy if they believe that Torres divorced simply to get around Article 186 of the Constitution. At that point, we'll probably hear the Constitutional Court rule on the matter.The head of the TSE, Maria Villagran, and her staff have already been receiving death threats. However, it's unclear whether the threats are directly related to a decision on Torres.

El Periodico

In other election news, it's looks like we won't have to worry about Alvaro Arzu violating the constitutional prohibition on reelection. Arzu served as president from 1996-2000 and is barred from running again. Instead, it looks like his wife Patricia Escobar de Arzú will be the Unionist Party's presidential candidate.