The vote to elect the new president of Guatemala started on Sunday in a quiet environment, amid calls to avoid confrontation in this country plagued by poverty, violence and corruption.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) gave the signal to start the vote at 7:00 am to elect the successor of the unpopular President Jimmy Morales, legislators and municipal authorities for the period 2020-2024.
Images from the local television showed dozens of Guatemalans lining up to cast their ballots in several voting centers in the capital, which closed at 6:00 p.m.
The situation is similar in the interior of the country, although with greater affluence in some indigenous towns, which represent 42% of the 17.7 million Guatemalans and where poverty reaches up to 80%.
In the indigenous community of San Juan Sacatepéquez, on the periphery of the capital, people crowded the voting centers in the central park, where they installed food, fruit and flower sales.