A television comedian with no prior political experience won Guatemala's presidential election by a landslide on Sunday, capitalizing on a corruption scandal that engendered national hostility toward the country's ruling old guard.<br />Forty-six-year-old Jimmy Morales, who once played a hapless cowboy who accidentally becomes President, took more than 72% of the vote, easily defeating his opponent, former First Lady Sandra Torres, Reuters reported.<br />"As President, I received a mandate, and the mandate of the people of Guatemala is to fight against the corruption that is consuming us.<br />God bless and thank you," Morales said as he watched the votes come in.<br />Morales had been atop the election polls since early September, after President Otto Pérez Molina stepped down in the face of a bribery scandal.
