Guatemalan congress ratifies Guevara's election

Guatemala's congress formally ratified the official party candidate, Gen. Angel Anibal Guevara Rodriguez, as the winner of last week's presidential elections after the second-place finisher withdrew from a run-off to protest alleged voting fraud.

The second vote was needed because Guevara, with 35 percent of the vote, did not win an absolute majority.

Inter-party bickering and a government order prohibiting mass demonstrations have impeded a joint challenge by the three losing candidates of the results of the presidential election, sources said.