When are the 2023 elections in Guatemala? Dates and candidates
By Fátima Romero
Guatemala’s more than 9.3 million voters will have to choose between nearly two dozen presidential candidates in the first-round election on June 25.
A candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote in the first round to win, but if no candidate receives an absolute majority, a runoff election will be held on August 20, 2023.
All Guatemalan presidential elections since 1995 have gone to a runoff.
The 2019 runoff was the only election in that set where the first-place finisher from the first round did not win the second round.
In addition to the presidential vote, citizens will vote for the 160 representatives in Congress, 20 members of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), and 340 municipal corporations.
CANDIDATES FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF GUATEMALA 2023
Recent polls by CID-Gallup, Prensa Libre, and TResearch identify four candidates leading the voting preference: ex-diplomat and congressman Edmond Mulet from Cabal.
Also, former legislator Zury Ríos, from Valor, daughter of Efraín Ríos Montt, convicted for genocide and crimes against humanity; and two-time presidential finalist and former first lady Sandra Torres, from Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza.
The fourth, Carlos Pineda, of the Prosperidad Ciudadana party, also appears as a favorite in the polls, but a decision of the electoral tribunal on May 19, 2023, took him out of the race along with approximately 200 candidates of his party competing for other roles.
These are Guatemala’s 22 presidential candidates:
Sandra Julieta Torres Casanova
Party: National Unity of Hope (UNE)
Age: 67 years old
Place of Birth: Melchor de Mencos, Petén
Education: Master’s Degree in Public Policy (URL) / Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences (USAC)
Isaac Farchi Sultan
Party: AZUL
Age: 62 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Bachelor in Computer Science (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico)
Zury Mayté Ríos Sosa
Party: VALOR-UNIONIST Coalition
Age: 55 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Bachelor in Political and Social Sciences (UFM)
Ricardo Sagastume Morales
Party: ALL
Age: 65 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Lawyer and Notary (USAC)
Edmond Auguste Mulet Lesieur
Party: CABAL
Age: 72 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Lawyer and Notary (UMG) – Career Diplomat
Manuel Eduardo Conde Orellana
Party: VAMOS for a Different Guatemala
Age: 66 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Lawyer and Notary (URL)
Rudio Lecsán Mérida Herrera
Party: Partido Humanista de Guatemala (PHG)
Age: 61 years old
Place of Birth: Huehuetenango, Huehuetenango
Education: Lawyer and Notary Public (USAC)
José Rafael Espada
Party: Republican Party (PR)
Age: 79 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Physician and Surgeon (USAC)
Luis Antonio Lam Padilla
Party: National Integration (PIN)
Age: 43 years old
Education: Lawyer and Notary (UFM)
Hugo Enrique Peña Medina
Party: ELEFANTE Community
Age: 61 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Master’s Degree in Strategy and Public Image (Universidad Camilo José Cela, Madrid, Spain) and Master’s Degree in Security and Defense (UMG)
José Amílcar Rivera Estévez
Party: VICTORIA
Age: 49 years old
Place of Birth: Escuintla, Escuintla
Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Master’s Degree in Public Administration.
César Bernardo Arévalo De León
Party: Movimiento SEMILLA
Age: 65 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: B.A. in Sociology (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
Samuel Everardo Morales Cabrera “Sammy Morales”
Party: National Convergence Front (FCN Nación)
Age: 56 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Bachelor’s in Media and Communications (University of Wisconsin-USA Claire, US).
Rudy Guzman
Party: WE
Giulio Antonino Talamonti Gudiel
Party: Unión Republicana (UR)
Francisco Alfredo Arredondo Mendoza
Party: Commitment, Renovation, and Order (CREO)
Age: 73 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Physician and Surgeon (USAC and Medical College of Wisconsin, US)
Amilcar de Jesús Pop
Party: URNG-MAÍZ-WINAQ Coalition
Age: 46 years old
Place of Birth: Cobán, Alta Verapaz
Education: Lawyer and Notary Public (USAC)
Giovanni Efraín Reyes Ortíz
Party: Bienestar Nacional (BIEN)
Age: 67 years old
Education: Agricultural Engineer at the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, Ph.D. in Development Economics and International Relations (University of Pittsburg, US).
Armando Damian Castillo Alvarado
Party: Vision with Values (VIVA)
Age: 57 years old
Place of Birth: Nebaj, Quiché
Education: Civil Engineer
Julio César Rivera Clavería
Party: MI FAMILIA
Age: 73 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: Lawyer and Notary (USAC) / Master in Public Security (UG)
Álvaro Manuel Trujillo Baldizón
Party: CAMBIO
Age: 46 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Manuel Ricardo Villacorta Orantes
Party: VOS
Age: 64 years old
Place of Birth: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education: PhD in Sociology and Political Science (Pontificia Universidad de Salamanca, Spain)
With information from Bloomberg
News Guatemala, English news Guatemala, Guatemalan elections
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