Polls opened early Sunday in Guatemala's runoff presidential election, in an acrimonious atmosphere exacerbated by charges of vote buying. More than 7.3 million Guatemalans are eligible to take part in the polls pitting right-wing retired general Otto Perez Molina against wealthy businessman Manuel Baldizon.
Ahead of the vote, Perez Molina said government officials had been handing out vouchers for roofing and food supplies to the poor in exchange for their votes for Baldizon.
"I am asking the president to take his hands off this vote, and stop using Guatemalans' money to try to buy votes in favour of a candidate, who in this case is Baldizon," retired general Otto Perez Molina, who looked likely to win the runoff, told AFP Saturday.
"So far, the incidents we have seen are these vouchers which are being handed out nation-wide offering zinc plates and the food subsidy, which they are handing out here in the capital," Perez Molina charged.
The electoral mission of the Organisation of American States (OAS) said it was sending 65 observers across the 22 Guatemalan departments in a bid to maintain a transparent, fair poll on Sunday.
In recent polls ahead of the vote to succeed President Alvaro Colom in Central America's most populous nation, Perez Molina scored 55 percent, 10 points ahead of Baldizon.
Rich in natural beauty and Mayan ruins but lying on major drug trafficking routes between South America and the United States, Guatemala is struggling to emerge from a 36-year civil war, which ended 15 years ago.
Brutal attacks from Mexico's Zetas drug gang have joined lingering political violence in the nation of 14 million, where more than half the population lives in poverty. Most of the population is indigenous, overwhelmingly so in rural areas, and belongs to ethnic Maya groups.
Human rights observers have expressed concern that this was the "most violent" election cycle in recent history, with 43 dead in campaign-related killings, and dozens of death threats lobbed at candidates and the electorate since the campaign kicked off in May this year.
Four years after narrowly losing to Colom, Perez, 61, focused his multi-million-dollar campaign for the Patriotic Party (PP) on creating jobs and cracking down on crime. He has even proposed using the army against drug traffickers.
Populist Baldizon, 41, from the Renewed Democratic Liberty (LIDER) party, also plowed millions of dollars into his campaign, making promises from increasing the use of the death penalty to helping the soccer team make it to the World Cup.
Experts say the tough stance of both candidates underlines the concern of Guatemalans about how to improve security in a country with a murder rate of around 18 per day, with more than 40 percent of killings blamed on drug gangs.
Perez, who represented the army in 1996 at the peace accord signing, has denied accusations that rights abuses took place under his command during the war. Some 200,000 people are believed to have died or gone missing during the civil war, according to United Nations estimates.
Baldizon has been criticised for his changing allegiances after moving from the political left to the right, and is fighting rumours that his party has received money from drug gangs in his north-eastern region of Peten.
The new president, who will take over on January 14, faces multiple challenges.
Corruption from organised crime gangs is rife in the country bordering Mexico and across the region. According to the United Nations, 98 percent of crimes go unpunished in Guatemala.
Malnutrition affects a staggering 49 percent of minors and illiteracy affects some 30 percent of the population. The figures typically are worse in isolated rural areas where Maya is spoken. Bilingual education, and literacy for millions of Maya speakers, have not been consistent priorities.
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