Decision time in Guatemala.

• Position: OAS - Brief article

Guatemalan citizens went to the polls on September 9 for the first round of presidential elections, which the OAS reported were orderly and peaceful. A runoff contest between the top two finishers--Alvaro Colom of the National Unity of Hope party and Otto Perez of the Patriot Party--was scheduled for November 4.

The OAS deployed a large Electoral Observation Mission, comprised of some 200 international monitors, under the direction of former Peruvian Foreign Minister Diego Garcia-Sayan. The day after the voting, the Chief of Mission praised citizens for their democratic spirit and the candidates for the maturity they had demonstrated. He noted that the "Commitment to the Citizens of Guatemala," which the presidential candidates had signed prior to the elections, represented a step forward in the task of...