Guatemalans protest ban on leftist presidential candidate

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Thousands of people demonstrated in Guatemala to protest a court’s decision not to allow an indigenous candidate to register for the country’s June 25 presidential elections. Protesters blocked at least 15 local highways Tuesday, demanding that the leftist candidate be allowed to run for president and vice president. Thelma Cabrera was to have been the presidential candidate for the leftist Peoples Liberation Movement, or MLP. The dispute arose after Guatemala’s electoral tribunal ruled that former human rights official Jordán Rodas cannot be vice presidential candidate for the MLP because he allegedly did not have a letter certifying he had no legal cases pending against him.