Constitutional Court gives Torres another No - Updated

Initial reports indicate that the Constitutional Court in Guatemala voted 5 to 2 against Sandra Torres's appeal tonight. The result is not much of a surprise and probably has little effect on September's outcome.


On the one hand, Torres was the only candidate likely to mount a serious challenge against Otto Perez Molina.  On the other hand, she was likely to lose anyway.


It's still unofficial, but the reported result is consistent across several twitter accounts.


***Update - The Court voted unanimously. 

Court President Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre said her candidacy still violates a constitutional ban on relatives of the chief executive running for the office because she was his wife for most of his term. Torres had appealed earlier decisions by election officials and lower courts that banned her candidacy.

Maldonado noted late Monday that the constitutional court decision was unanimous and final. Several women supporters of Torres cried outside the court when they heard the decision over the radio.

There was no immediate comment from Torres.

The ruling avoided the question of whether she committed fraud when she divorced Colom in March.