By Mica Rosenberg and Frank Jack Daniel
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Center-leftist Alvaro Colom won Guatemala's presidential election on Sunday, denying power to a retired general who had sought to unleash the army to fight a violent crime wave.
Colom, a soft-spoken textile businessman, beat Gen. Otto Perez Molina, the former head of army intelligence, by 5.4 percentage points with more than 95 percent of votes counted.
He will be sworn in on January 14, becoming the first president from the left since the end of the country's civil war in 1996, which deeply scarred this coffee-producing nation of jungles, volcanoes and Mayan ruins.
The Central American country, a U.S. free-trade partner, has been plagued by violent drug cartels and youth street gangs since the war and has one of the world's highest murder rates.
But voters with bad memories of atrocities under military rule rejected Perez Molina's plans to send more soldiers onto the streets, boost the use of capital punishment and emergency powers to fight crime. Perez Molina conceded defeat.
"It is a 'no' to Guatemala's tragic history," Colom, 56, said when asked if the vote was a rejection of the country's military past.
Chain-smoker Colom, whose party symbol is a peace dove, says Guatemala will only cut crime by attacking poverty and removing corrupt police and judges.
"All this violence comes from the lack of employment, I just hope he creates more jobs," said doughnut seller Yolanda Morales, 26, as Colom gave his victory speech and a barrage of fireworks exploded above her. Continued...
Álvaro Colom dando suas primeiras declarações como presidente eleito.
  
Com  96% dos votos contabilizados, o Tribunal Superior Eleitoral da Guatemala declarou o senhor Álvaro Colom – do partido social democrata ''Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza '' (Unidade Nacional da Esperança) – o novo Presidente da Guatemala para o período 2008-2012.

Com quase a totalidade de urnas apuradas, o tribunal eleitoral anunciou para a imprensa nacional e internacional os resultados finais:  1.431.793 votos (52,81%) para a Unidade Nacional da Esperança e para o Partido Patriota 1.279.793 votos (47,19%).

Dos mais de 6 milhões de guatemaltecos que em condições legais de votar, somente 2.861.058 compareceram aos centros de votação. Esta eleição foi marcada pela apatia e o abstencionismo. Os guatemaltecos demonstraram desinteresse pela política e  muitos habitantes se queixaram do facto de os candidatos nunca terem debatido a fim de que fosse possível conhecer suas propostas.