Guatemala’s presidential hopefuls channel heavy-handed tactics of El Salvador’s leader

By SONIA PÉREZ D.
Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Candidates to be Guatemala’s next president are pushing a neighbor’s controversial success into the race. They promise voters they will build mega-prisons, remove uncompliant judges and hammer gangs into submission. For citizens across Latin America, that formula should sound familiar. El Salvador’s tough talking, Bitcoin-loving President Nayib Bukele enjoys approval ratings the envy of any world leader even a year after suspending key rights to wage war against its gangs. His popularity has not gone unnoticed in Guatemala, where several of the leading candidates headed into the June 25 first round of balloting have told voters that if elected they will emulate Bukele’s heavy-handed tactics.