Progressive Arevalo leads in poll ahead of Guatemala presidential election

A survey from CID Gallup shows Bernardo Arevalo surging ahead of conservative rival Sandra Torres in the lead-up to Sunday’s vote.



Veterans rally during a campaign stop for conservative candidate Sandra Torres on August 15 in Guatemala City [Cristina Chiquin/Reuters]

Published On 16 Aug 2023
16 Aug 2023

A new public opinion poll released days ahead of Guatemala’s presidential race indicates former dark-horse candidate Bernardo Arevalo is heading into the vote with a healthy lead.

Arevalo, a candidate for the progressive Movimiento Semilla or Seed Movement, is projected to win by 61 percent, according to a survey published on Wednesday by the research firm CID Gallup.



Bernardo Arevalo, right, attended a televised debate on August 7 that his rival Sandra Torres declined to participate in [File: Moises Castillo/AP Photo]


On June 25, Arevalo surprised the political establishment with an unexpectedly strong finish in the first round of voting.

The son of Guatemala’s first democratically elected president and a member of Congress himself, Arevalo scored 11.8 percent of the vote, a total only surpassed by Torres at 15.7 percent. No other candidate polled higher than 8 percent.



Demonstrators lead a ‘March of the Flowers’ in Guatemala City on July 23 to protest government actions taken against the Seed Movement [File: Cristina Chiquin/Reuters]

More:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/16/progressive-arevalo-leads-in-poll-ahead-of-guatemala-presidential-election