Guatemala and Guatemalan News

Country Profile
Guatemala officially the Republic of Guatemala is a country in Central America.Guatemala is divided into 22 Department and further sub-divided into 334 Municipalities.
Capital                         Guatemala City
Currency                      Quetzal
Official Language        Spanish
Population                    14 Million(2011 Estimate)

Politics and Govt

Guatemala is a constitutional democratic republic whereby the President of Guatemala is both Head of State and Head of Govt and of a Multi-Party System.
President of Guatemala

Otto Perez Molina ,a Retd. Military Officer and Guatemalan Politician representing Patriotic Party is the current and the 48th President of Guatemala from January 14, 2012 (after winning the 2011 Guatemalan General Election held on Sep 11, 2011 defeating Manuel Baldizon of LIDER Party in a Run-off)
Vice President of Guatemala

Ingrid Roxana Baldetti Elías,General Secretary of the Patriotic Party since 2009 is the current and the 13th Vice President and first female Vice-President of Guatemala


 2011 Guatemalan General Election
Elections were held on Sep 11, 2011 in Guatemala for the offices of President and Vice-President as well as members of Congress  by National List and Districts, members to the Central American Parliament and the Mayor and council for all the Municipalities . All positions were elected for a four-year period.


Of 158 congressmen to be elected, 126 congressmen sought re-election but only 56 were re-elected and 102 new congressmen were elected for the first time since democratic election took root in Guatemala.


Retired General Otto Perez Molina of the Patriotic Party  won the Presidential Election in a runoff against populist Manuel Baldizon of the LIDER Party.

Otto Perez, a retired rightwing general who promised a crackdown on violent crime, has won Guatemala's Presidential Election securing 54.5% of votes with results counted from 96% of polling stations. His rival, wealthy businessman Manuel Baldizon secured only 45.5% .
Otto Perez becomes the first member of the military to take power since democracy was restored in 1986
.
Guatemala's murder rate is about eight times that of the US and many of the country's 14.7 million people want a tougher stance on crime.

Otto Perez is seen as a progressive officer inside the army and had a key role in supporting the 1996 peace accords that ended the war

Otto Perez Molina Takes Office 

Retired Gen. Otto Perez Molina was sworn in as president of Guatemala on Saturday Jan 14,2012, calling on the United States and Mexico to help him fight a wave of drug trafficking and violence that has overwhelmed the Central American country.
Otto Perez Molina is the first military officer elected as Guatemalan president since the end of a military government 25 years ago. He served in that administration as director of intelligence