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Guatemalan leftist candidate Bernardo Arévalo emerged as the winner of Guatemala’s 2023 presidential runoff election on Sunday, defeating leftist former first lady and first-round front-runner Sandra Torres. The official results published by Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) show that Arévalo and his Semilla Movement party obtained 58 percent of the votes, while Torres of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party obtained 37.24 percent. Voter turnout rate was tallied at 44.98 percent, for a total of roughly 4.2 million votes cast.

President Joe Biden told Americans in his Inaugural Address last week: “We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.” But one would be forgiven for thinking otherwise, given the Biden administration’s behavior on taking office. After a week of Biden, the United States is being run more like a Third World country than an advanced democracy. Here are nine of the most salient examples:

President Joe Biden on Thursday abandoned his precedent of wearing a mask in the Oval Office as he signed executive actions on health care. “Since we are socially distanced, I think I can take my mask off and make this very brief announcement,” Biden said after reporters entered the Oval Office.

'This is no way to make law,' left-wing NYT board writes The left-wing New York Times editorial board supported President Biden's campaign and celebrated his victory, but mild criticism of his spate of executive actions drew a rebuke from Biden's communications director Thursday morning. Chummily headlined, "Ease up on the Executive Actions, Joe," the editorial board admonished him against relying too heavily on executive orders. Biden has signed dozens since taking office last week, addressing issues from climate change to coronavirus to overseas abortions to cancelling the Keystone Pipeline. "But this is no way to make law," the board wrote....

The Oklahoma woman accused of acting as a would-be getaway driver for a botched burglary in Broken Arrow, Monday, is speaking out about the crime. Her three accomplices were shot and killed by the homeowner’s son. She wants the man who killed her friends to know she doesn’t blame him for doing what he did.

Vicente Fox Trump acting like 'a child, a CEO': Vicente Fox 1 Hour Ago | 01:35 Former Mexican President Vicente Fox blasted President Donald Trump on Friday, calling him a "child" and mockingly referring to him as a corporate "CEO" rather than president of the world's most powerful country. In an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box," the outspoken Fox said Mexico won't pay for the wall Trump wants to build along the border, "not now, not ever." Fox also said he doesn't believe Trump is an American "in his soul and his beliefs." He added he does not understand the...

...For his part, Bush simply took to Twitter to praise Boehner's career. "John Boehner dedicated his life to public service. Bringing the Holy Father to Congress was a fitting cap to a great career," Bush said, referring to Pope Francis accepting an invitation from Boehner to speak before lawmakers on Thursday.

Jeb Bush’s new Spanish-language campaign ad sidelines America’s unifying patriotism in favor of repeated praise for post-American multi-cultural diversity and praise for Latino culture brought by migrants, an expert says. “The ad is was post-patriotism, post-American… [when] it could have been a mix talking about [the value of] assimilation,” says John Fonte, the director of the Center for American Common Culture at the D.C.-based Hudson Institute. “It has nothing to do with being an American,” he added. The one-minute ad begins with an American flag, but it is quickly dominated by appeals to Latino culture. “For me, Hispanic culture is...

Jeb Bush broadened his attack on Donald Trump Thursday, saying the Republican Party faces a stark choice–both on issues and worldview between himself and the real estate mogul and reality television celebrity who is the front-runner for the 2016 GOP nomination. -snip- And one day after Mr. Trump criticized Mr. Bush for speaking in Spanish on the campaign trail, the bilingual former Florida governor slipped in a Spanish phrase when he called on Republicans to campaign “with our arms wide open.” -snip- The town hall was held on a factory floor after Mr. Bush toured a plant of Foss Manufacturing,...

Several years ago, Columba Bush was at a Republican women’s gathering in Jacksonville, Florida, looking like she wanted to bolt for the exit. Tom Slade Jr. – former chairman of the Florida GOP and a friend of Columba and her famous husband, former Gov. Jeb Bush – recalled how she seemed utterly ill at ease. Her dislike of being in the spotlight, and at events where people go to see who’s there and to be seen, is well-known among those who know the Bush couple. Columba Bush, who is 60, has endured it, Slade told the Washington Post, because the...

The Park Service appears to be closing streets on mere whim and caprice. The rangers even closed the parking lot at Mount Vernon, where the plantation home of George Washington is a favorite tourist destination. That was after they barred the new World War II Memorial on the Mall to veterans of World War II. But the government does not own Mount Vernon; it is privately owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. The ladies bought it years ago to preserve it as a national memorial. The feds closed access to the parking lots this week, even though the lots...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: My question is, why is Obama still campaigning? Could somebody explain that to me. Everywhere I look, this election's over. Why, Obama has hit 50% approval in the polls now for the first time ever. The bounce out of that disaster of a convention was unprecedented, other than Dukakis who had a 17-point lead after his, and somehow he lost. Brit Hume said today on Fox, "Well, you know, you gotta keep in mind the guy leading in the polls in mid-September rarely loses." Ever heard of Dukakis? Ever heard of Jimmy Carter? And now Public Policy...

El Presidente had issued is edict and it is out of the closet. "Let me be clear, I will do whatever I want, when I want, by passing Congress, the Courts, The Supreme Court, for the good of the American People, whether they want it or not. Sometimes, I must make the tough decisions for you. These decisions may be hard to swallow, like overspending, laying off military personnel, and crony capitalisim. Let me be clear. Parents know better than their children. Therefore I as your President, will do anything to hold onto power till the course I have laid...

In a campaign speech late Tuesday night, Governor Rick Perry stated that he is "returning to Texas" to reassess whether he is going to continue running for President. The speech contained several emotional moments, in particular two moments. The first was when he read a letter from an adoring supporter who called him a "great man." The letter described a conversation that Mr. Perry had had with a soldier and how his supporter looked on in awe as he watched Governor Perry call the veteran his "Christian brother." The second was when Perry announced that he would be returning to...

Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, appears doomed to a fifth-place finish in Iowa. Unless he drops out, that would make South Carolina his last stand against Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney. The problem is that he might not receive an invitation to an upcoming South Carolina debate (given the debate criteria). Candidates can qualify to participate in the CNN/Southern Republican Leadership Conference debate January 19th (two days before the South Carolina primary) in one of four ways. First and second, they can place in the top four in either Iowa or New Hampshire. Third and fourth, they can qualify by averaging seven...

Last month, Insider Advantage had him leading Romney in the state 29/20. A month later, “He now barely has a heartbeat.” When I saw Perry’s topline number of three percent, I figured the “Ponzi scheme” talk must have sent Florida’s seniors running screaming into the night. Not so. He’s actually doing (marginally) worse with other age demographics in this poll, and in the last poll he did reasonably well with the 65+ crowd, finishing second to Romney in that group with almost 23 percent. That poll was taken on September 13, which was almost a week after Romney started attacking...

As a fellow traveler, Barack Obama, who has managed to impress the Bolivian dictator President as the Bolivian slammed capitalism at the UN, has also made his mark on Lybia's dictator. In a speech with as much substance as many of Obama's, Qadaffi said in his meandering and disconnected hour and a half rant that Obama is "Our Son," and "His son." This raises the proverbial question, does the fruit fall far from the tree? He apparently was unaware when he said that he wished that Obama could be President "forever" that unlike himself as head of the Lybian government,...

Raising the marginal tax rate on successful earners, capital, dividends, and all the private funds is a function of Obama’s left-wing social vision, and a repudiation of his economic-recovery statements. Ditto for his sweeping government-planning-and-spending program, which will wind up raising federal outlays as a share of GDP to at least 30 percent, if not more, over the next 10 years.

The Presidency: It takes little courage — or brains — to join the mob vilifying President Bush. But the Democrats (and Republicans, too) depicting him as villain will one day regret it.In the eyes of members of both parties, George W. Bush seems to be the cause of everything from the recent GOP special election losses to a flagging economy to today's bad weather. Barack Obama plans to reach the White House by claiming the presidency of Sen. John McCain would amount to a third Bush term. McCain, meanwhile, seems to think it a wise campaign strategy to highlight his...

Some angry conservatives will tell you they have a good reason to call the Republican presidential candidate "Juan" McCain. He has alienated many conservative voters with his position on immigration, and he apparently plans to worsen the problem in July with a speech before the National Council of La Raza, the vociferously anti-American and leftist pro-immigration group. As bad as the Democrats are when it comes this kind of blatant pandering, Republicans will, apparently, try their best. Problem is, pandering to radical Hispanics won't help McCain get to the White House, and may likely hurt him among those who will...