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GUATEMALA CITY-A former general vowing a crackdown on rampant crime holds a slim edge in polls over a businessman who promises to end desperate poverty by creating jobs, as Guatemalans chooses their next president Sunday.More than 30,000 police and soldiers are on alert after weeks of campaigning marred by violence. Another 20,000 national and international observers will also fan out across the nation.Security has been a top issue among voters in Central America's most violent country, with more than 5,000 homicides per year.Otto Perez Molina, 56, a retired general and former military intelligence director with the right-wing Patriotic Party, has promised to institute the death penalty, hire more police and send soldiers into the streets to fight crime.He has been accused of overseeing massacres during Guatemala's 1960-96 civil war, which he denies. But the allegations haven't appeared to have to hurt his campaign.His rival in the runoff-Alvaro Colom of the center-left National Unity of Hope Party-promises jobs, a judicial overhaul and increased social spending in Guatemala, where more than half of the country's 12 million people live on less than $2 a day.The campaign has been marred by violence, with more than 50 candidates, party activists and their family members killed.Most recently, Perez's secretary and a presidential security guard were gunned down last month.The two finished far ahead of 12 other candidates, including Nobel laureate and Mayan activist Rigoberta Menchu, in a first round of voting in September.As in the days of Noah....
