Guatemalan general election, 1999

Last updated
Guatemalan presidential election, 1999
Flag of Guatemala.svg
  1995-96 7 November 1999 2003  

  Portillo.jpg Cumbre Iberoamericana 2007 - Foto oficial (cropped).jpg
Nominee Alfonso Portillo Óscar Berger
Party FRG PAN
Home state Zacapa Guatemala City
Running mate Juan Francisco Reyes Arabella Castro
States carried220
Popular vote1,184,932549,408
Percentage68.31%31.69%

President before election

Álvaro Arzú
PAN

President-elect

Alfonso Portillo
FRG

Coat of arms of Guatemala.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Guatemala
Judiciary

General elections were held in Guatemala on 7 November 1999, with a second round of the presidential elections on 26 December. [1] Alfonso Portillo won the presidential elections, whilst his Guatemalan Republican Front also won the Congressional elections. Voter turnout was 53.8% on 7 November and 40.4% on 26 December. [2]

Guatemala republic in Central America

Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, Honduras to the east, El Salvador to the southeast and the Pacific Ocean to the south. With an estimated population of around 16.6 million, it is the most populated country in Central America. Guatemala is a representative democracy; its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City.

Alfonso Portillo President of Guatemala

Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera is a Guatemalan politician who served as President of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004.

Contents

Media owner Remigio Ángel González gave more than $2.6 million and free airtime to Alfonso Portillo's campaign, [3] which led to some political analysts to claim that the free adverts helped Portillo win the election. [4] After becoming president, Portillo appointed Gonzalez's brother-in-law Luis Rabbé to the post of Minister of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing, a post which included responsibility for overseeing the broadcast media. [4] The presidential election also established a pattern for the next 16 years in which the runner-up of the previous contest then went on to win.

Remigio Ángel González is a Mexican-born owner of the Latin American media network Albavisión. He has lived in Miami since 1987. The network is named for his wife Alba Elvira Lorenzana, who is from Guatemala. González was estimated to be worth $350m in 2002, and by some accounts is now worth $2bn. González has a conservative political stance, but he aims to keep a low profile and cooperate with host country governments. As part of this strategy, he is said to have modified the editorial lines of his stations, particularly in Guatemala and Nicaragua, to accommodate government preferences.

Luis Armando Rabbé Tejada is a Guatemalan politician and media entrepreneur. He was President of the Congress of Guatemala between 14 January 2015 and 14 January 2016. Rabbé was elected to the Congress of Guatemala in the 2011 elections for the National List under the banner of National Change Union. Three months after being installed he became an independent member. In the 2015 general election Rabbé ran once more for the National List, this time as the number two of the Renewed Democratic Liberty (LIDER).

Results

President

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Alfonso Portillo Guatemalan Republican Front 1,045,82047.721,184,93268.31
Óscar Berger National Advancement Party 664,41730.32549,40831.69
Álvaro Colom URNG-DIA 270,89112.36
Acisclo Valladares Molína Progressive Liberating Party 67,9243.10
Juan Francisco Bianchi Castillo Democratic Renewal Action Party 45,4702.07
Ana Catalina Soberanis Reyes Democratic Front New Guatemala 28,1081.28
José Enrique Asturias Rudeke LOV-UD 25,2361.15
Danilo Julian Roca Barillas National Centre Union 22,9391.05
Carlos Humberto Pérez Rodríguez National Liberation Movement 13,0800.60
Emilio Eva Saldívar Democratic Action 4,9290.22
Flor de María Alvarado Suárez de Solis ARENA2,6980.12
Invalid/blank votes205,70065,588
Total2,397,2121001,799,928100
Source: Nohlen

Congress

PartyPRDistrictTotal seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Guatemalan Republican Front 891,42942.111879,83941.45263
National Advancement Party 570,10826.97589,55027.73037
New Nation Alliance 233,87011.02231,97010.979
Guatemalan Christian Democracy 86,8394.1168,6093.212
Progressive Liberating Party 84,1874.0191,4844.301
Democratic Renewal Action Party 63,8243.0076,9943.600
Democratic Front New Guatemala 60,8212.9053,5442.500
LOV-UD 48,1842.3048,3982.311
National Centre Union 42,9212.0040,0691.900
National Liberation Movement 22,8571.0021,6561.000
Democratic Action 8,6440.406,0740.300
ARENA4,1780.201,8680.100
UCN-DCG 6,4800.300
DCG-FDNG 5,7920.300
National Union 3,2220.200
MLN-DCG 1,8290.100
Invalid/blank votes279,011268,249
Total2,396,883100222,395,62710091113
Source: Nohlen

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References

  1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p323 ISBN   978-0-19-928357-6
  2. Nohlen, p324
  3. Rockwell, Rick and Janus, Noreene (2001), "Stifling Dissent: the fallout from a Mexican media invasion of Central America, Journalism Studies, 2: 4, 497 — 512
  4. 1 2 Domination of Latin airwaves has 'Ghost' scaring his critics Associated Press, 9 June 2002

Bibliography