GUATEMALA CITY (AP) 鈥 The Organization of American States鈥 human rights commission asked Thursday that Guatemala provide protection for Bernardo Ar茅valo, the winner of the country鈥檚 Aug. 20 elections, after reports emerged of a possible plot to kill him.
The commission said in a statement Thursday that there were reports of 鈥渁t least one鈥 plan to harm or kill Ar茅valo and his running mate, Karin Herrera.
The Guatemalan government said it has offered protection, and Ar茅valo told journalists in Guatemala that he was coordinating with the government on protective measures.
But the commission wrote in a statement that 鈥渘onetheless, there is concern about information on at least one possible plan to attack the life and welfare鈥 of Ar茅valo and Herrera.
鈥淎t least thee sources within the government that are considered highly reliable have warned about the existence of a plot codenamed 鈥楥olosio,鈥" the commission said, an apparent reference to the 1994 assassination in Mexico of ruling-party presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio.
Guatemalans voted for Ar茅valo in a landslide in the Aug. 20 elections, but his opponent, former first lady Sandra Torres, has not conceded, or said anything for that matter. The election results have not been certified, a legal step necessary for Ar茅valo to become president.
That鈥檚 not the only hitch: The attorney general鈥檚 office also continues to investigate the registration of his Seed Movement party and has already asked a judge once to suspend it.
Ar茅valo's platform of eradicating corruption has earned him enemies among Guatemala's political and economic elite.
The 64-year-old son of former President Juan Jos茅 Ar茅valo was born in Uruguay, where his father was in exile following the ouster in a 1954 CIA-backed coup of his successor President Jacobo 脕rbenz, whom the U.S. saw as a threat during the Cold War.
