(CPOD) Jul. 25, 2003 - Óscar Berger is still the man to beat in Guatemala's presidential race, according to a poll by Siglo XXI. 45 per cent of respondents would vote for Berger, candidate for the conservative Grand National Alliance (GANA).

Berger ran for office in 1999, losing to current president Alfonso Portillo in a run-off. Álvaro Colom of the leftist National Union of Hope (UNE)  is second with 13.1 per cent, and former president Efraín Ríos Montt of the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) has 11.4 per cent. Guatemalans will elect their new president on Nov. 9.

Ríos Montt's proposed nomination by the ruling FRG has created a stir. The constitution forbids people who participated in a coup d'etat to be presidential candidates. Ríos Montt seized power in 1982, toppling the government of Fernando Lucas García.

The former president launched a successful appeal to the Constitutional Court, but the decision was met with dissent. Yesterday, 3,000 people protested Ríos Montt's candidacy, forcing the government to deploy security forces to maintain order.

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