Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu, an activist for
indigenous people, is the first indigenous woman in Guatemala to
run for the presidency, the Inter Press Service reported Aug.
29. Menchu is fifth in the polls and is expected to win about 3
percent of the vote in the Sept. 9 election but her candidacy
has raised the political profile of both women and indigenous
people. Menchu started the Winaq movement to represent the 40
percent of the population that is indigenous and has also
condemned the violence that has marred the campaign, including
the Aug. 27 murder of Clara Luz Lopez Marroquin, a candidate for
a town council seat. About 40 candidates and campaign workers
have been killed. Amnesty International issued a call Aug. 28 to
all candidates to condemn the violence. "We are the voice of the
thousands of silenced people, who have no room (in the system)
and who only take orders," Menchu told the news service,
emphasizing her role as an indigenous woman in "machista,
racist" Guatemala. More News to