Speaking of the Guatemalan elections, (via the AP): Anti-poverty, anti-crime candidates face runoff in Guatemala

A tough-on-crime former general and a businessman who wants to solve Guatemala’s problems by fighting poverty will meet in a Nov. 4 presidential runoff, according to results Monday from a first round of elections.

Alvaro Colom, a businessman making his third run for the presidency, had a 28.4 percent to 23.6 percent lead over Otto Perez of the conservative Patriot Party, with about 98 percent of the votes counted Monday.

Sunday’s vote sheared away 10 other less-popular candidates, among them Nobel laureate and Mayan activist Rigoberta Menchu, who got 3 percent.