Candidate Torres Signs Pact With Retired Guatemalan Military

On Tuesday, Sandra Torres, the presidential candidate of the National Unity of Hope (UNE), signed a pact with an organization of Guatemalan military retirees to obtain their support in the second round of elections to be held on Sunday.

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The former first lady (2008-2012) promised the Association of Military Veterans of Guatemala (AVEMILGUA) to increase the economic bonus for its members if she wins the elections.

Torres also asked the military for their support to convince their communities and families to vote for her and thus defend Guatemala from Bernardo Arevalo, the candidate of the SEED Movement (Semilla), whom she accuses of promoting a foreign agenda and sexual diversity.

AVEMILGUA was founded by soldiers who served during the Guatemalan civil war (1960-1996). Some of its members have been accused of corruption and crimes against humanity.

Torres, a conservative politician who is running for the presidency for the third consecutive time, has become an advocate of a political system that favors corrupt elites.

According to political experts, Torres is rejected by the urban electorate for his authoritarian image and her links to cases of illegal electoral financing. In 2019, she was jailed for four months for illegally receiving over US$5 million for her presidential campaign.

In the CidGallup's latest survey, Torres accumulates 54 percent rejection from Guatemalans, who consider her the most rancid way of doing politics.