As Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, 42, strode into the headquarters of his Christian Democratic Party in downtown Guatemala City last week, he was one step closer to being his country's first elected civilian President in nearly two decades. By garnering almost 39% of the national vote, the charismatic center-left lawyer had outperformed his closest competitor, Newspaper Owner Jorge Carpio Nicolle, 53, of the moderately conservative National Center Union, who finished with 20%. But because he failed to capture an absolute majority, Cerezo must face Carpio in a runoff election on Dec. 8. Buoyed by his impressive showing, Cerezo declared confidently last week,...
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