Guatemalan presidential candidate Sandra Torres leans on conservative values, opposing gay marriage

By SONIA PÉREZ D.
Associated Press

SAN JUAN SACATEPEQUEZ, Guatemala (AP) — Over the past decade, Guatemalan presidential candidate Sandra Torres has been drifting rightward on the political spectrum as she repeatedly has tried to win the presidency. In her third bid this year, the former first lady has drafted an evangelical pastor as her running mate and has campaigned on her firm commitments to keeping abortion and same-sex marriage illegal in Guatemala. Her opponent in the Aug. 20 runoff, Bernardo Arévalo of the progressive Seed Movement, also has said Guatemala’s abortion ban but should remain untouched. But he has declined to make any such declaration on same-sex marriage. Torres told several hundred supporters at a recent campaign event, “I want to run this country with the fear of God.”