Guatemala ex-first lady Sandra Torres in presidential run-off

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-34264218

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Guatemala's former first lady Sandra Torres will stand against a television comedian in a presidential run-off election in October.

The electoral authorities have ruled that Ms Torres was runner-up in the first round, earlier this month.

She narrowly defeated a centre-right businessman, Manuel Baldizon, who said the vote was rigged.

Television comedian Jimmy Morales finished top, following a campaign against corruption.

Ms Torres divorced President Alvaro Colom in 2011, when his term was coming to an end.

But the Supreme Court ruled out her candidacy saying she had divorced only to bypass a constitutional ban on relatives running for president.

She has now secured a place in the run-off vote, on 25 October.

'No dark pasts'

The final results of the 6 September presidential vote were published by Guatemala's electoral court on Tuesday.

Mr Morales had 23.85% of the vote and Ms Torres 19.76%.

Mr Baldizon lost the second place spot by a very narrow margin. He had 19.64%.

He pulled out of the race on Monday, before the result was announced, saying the vote had been rigged.

An experienced politician, Mr Baldizon led the opinion polls until August.

But general discontentment with traditional politicians in the impoverished Central American nation led to his defeat and the surprising victory in the first round of Mr Morales.

"Guatemala wants change and to not be governed by people with dark pasts," he said after the election.

The vote was held days after President Otto Perez Molina resigned over a customs bribery scandal that led to protests across the country.

Mr Perez Molina, who was constitutionally barred from running for re-election, was arrested shortly after. He denies any involvement.

Prosecutors allege the scheme collected $3.8m (£2.5m) in bribes between May 2014 and April 2015, including $800,000 (£520,000) each to Mr Perez and former vice-president Roxana Baldetti, who had already been jailed.