Guatemalans were fearful today's national elections would be marred by violence as tensions fueled by the presidential comeback bid of a former military dictator blamed for civil war atrocities 20 years ago increased in the run-up to voting.
Ex-General Efrain Rios Montt (77) of the ruling Guatemalan Republican Front, or FRG, was trailing third in opinion polls with about 11 per cent of the vote, though experts say his support might be largely underestimated.
Conservative businessman and former Guatemala City Mayor Oscar Berger (57) has led the polls, but the latest surveys show him in a virtual dead heat with left-leaning career politician Alvaro Colom (51).
No one is seen winning the outright majority needed to avoid a second-round runoff in December.
The election has opened old war wounds and touched sensitive issues of class and corruption in the Central American nation of 11 million people, more than half of them Maya Indians often living in deep poverty.
Blamed for atrocities during his 1982-83 rule at the height of the country's bloody civil war, Mr Rios Montt's controversial candidacy has inspired violence in only the second presidential race since 1996 peace accords ended the 36-year conflict.
"The climate is significantly more tense than in the previous election," said Mr John Tyynela, leading a delegation of observers for the Carter Center. "It's touched on old fears and deepened divisions."