1898 Guatemalan presidential election

1898 Guatemalan presidential election

←  1892 September 1898 1904  →

Nominee Manuel Estrada Cabrera José León Castillo Party Liberal Liberal Home state Quetzaltenango Guatemala Popular vote 312,797 672 Percentage 99.79% 0.21%

President before election Manuel Estrada Cabrera Liberal President-elect Manuel Estrada Cabrera Liberal

Presidential elections were held in Guatemala during seven days in September 1898. ^[1] Prior to the elections Manuel Estrada Cabrera had established the first real political party in the country's history by admitting people from outside the influential liberals to the Liberal Party. ^[2]

The elections were regarded as fraudulent; constitutional guarantees had been suspended for a month and opposition candidate José León Castillo had been unable to campaign. Estrada was declared the winner with 99.8% of the vote, ^[3] although the number of votes cast is estimated to have been at least three times the number of people eligible to vote at the time. ^[4] Legislative Assembly Decree 413 of 26 September declared that Estrada's term of office would begin on 15 March 1899, but he assumed the presidency on 2 October. ^[3]

Results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Manuel Estrada Cabrera	Liberal Party	312,797	99.79
	José León Castillo	Liberal Party	672	0.21
Total			313,469	100.00
Source: Luján Muñoz

References

1. Jorge Luján Muñoz (2003) Las revoluciones de 1897, la muerte de J.M. Reina Barrios y la elección de M. Estrada Cabrera, Guatemala: Artemis Edinter, p63
2. Robert H Holden (2004) Armies without nations: public violence and state formation in Central America, 1821-1960, New York: Oxford University Press, p54
3. Luján Muñoz, p64
4. Luján Muñoz, pp70–71

Bibliography

• Villagrán Kramer, Francisco. Biografía política de Guatemala: años de guerra y años de paz. FLACSO-Guatemala, 2004.
• González Davison, Fernando. El régimen Liberal en Guatemala (1871–1944). Guatemala: Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. 1987.
• Dosal, Paul J. Power in transition: the rise of Guatemala's industrial oligarchy, 1871-1994. Westport: Praeger. 1995.
• LaCharité, Norman A., Richard O. Kennedy, and Phillip M. Thienel. Case study in insurgency and revolutionary warfare: Guatemala, 1944-1954. Washington, D.C.: Special Operations Research Office, American University. 1964.
• Taracena Arriola, Arturo. "Liberalismo y poder político en Centroamérica (1870-1929)." Historia general de Centroamérica. 1994. San José: FLACSO. Volume 4.