Guatemala 2011 presidential election

[Antonio the Sixth]

I don't think I like this election much.

Clealry.

[Antonio the Sixth]

What is up with the "colorful" list of candidates

Welcome to Latin American elections!

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Rigoberta Menchú was the leftist in the race.

How did he  up so badly to not make it to the runoff?

Because the country is a sh*thole, maybe ?

[Antonio the Sixth]

What is up with the "colorful" list of candidates

Welcome to Latin American elections!

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Rigoberta Menchú was the leftist in the race.

How did he  up so badly to not make it to the runoff?

Because the country is a sh*thole, maybe ?

Wouldn't that benefit the left then if so many people are in poverty there? I mean is a former Junta general or Crazed businessman really going to be able to turn things around there?

Poor people = ignorant people, ignorant people = people more likely to vote for a stupid populist fraud. Add to that the awfully high crime rate, and you have all the ingredient for the "iron fist" lovefest.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Because the country is a sh*thole, maybe ?

Sometimes, you should calm down and not JUDGE immediately and definitely .
Or not judge at all, BTW .

Every country is interesting and there are not "bad" peoples and "good" peoples.
All Venezuelans aren't crap because of Chavez.
All Italians aren't crap because of Berlusconi.
etc.

Sorry, I'm not adding value here, just that, sometimes, you tend to be a bit of a political Judge Dredd .
No offense.

Oh, come on !
Did you have a look at the poverty, inequality and crime statistics ? This is what usually makes a country a sh*thole. All countries that vote for the right aren't sh*tholes (of course). France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark which was right-wing until yesterday are all great countries (even though all have their problems). Now, it's pretty evident that Guatemala is a depressing failed State, and that such a political situation doesn't lead to a healthy political game.

[Antonio the Sixth]

People, people, calm down. The incumbent president is actually leftie, and the only reason why there was no strong leftie was because his ex-wife was barred from running because the constitution prevents relatives of the prez from running (divorcing him did not help). So instead of calling the country a "sh**thole", which it probably is, it might also help to look at the situation calmly.

So where's the problem ?

[Antonio the Sixth]

People, people, calm down. The incumbent president is actually leftie, and the only reason why there was no strong leftie was because his ex-wife was barred from running because the constitution prevents relatives of the prez from running (divorcing him did not help). So instead of calling the country a "sh**thole", which it probably is, it might also help to look at the situation calmly.

So where's the problem ?

I meant that it's terribly easy to call a place a sh**thole because of its politics - I do it all the time - but in reality, it's a bad idea. It shows both terrible hackishness and it's not a good way to analyze and compare electoral politics. If you can't analyze something in politics without resorting to calling things 'sh**tholes' or people 'idiots', then, sadly, you shouldn't be analyzing politics.

I just made a quick comment, which was never supposed to be a detailed analysis of the country, of which I only have a very basic knowledge of this country - and never intended to sum up all the country's political and social history in one word. Now, I have the impression you don't really disagree with me about the comment itself, so there's no problem really.

Of course I'm glad to read your more developped, and more intelligent analyses, so to learn something more.

[Antonio the Sixth]

No, I think you're the one who hasn't understood what I say, actually.