Divorce attorneys in Pasadena have seen all kinds of people in powerful jobs leave their relationships to devote more time to their careers, but we've never seen anyone as ambitious as Sandra Torres de Colom. Torres de Colom is reportedly leaving her husband and current president of Guatemala Alvaro Colom so she can run for president. The couple has people wondering worldwide... are they breaking up because they are no longer in love or is the divorce a power play move to keep the Colom family in office?
Torres threw her hat in ring for president on March 9 despite being brow beaten by critics who say she is ineligible to run for presidency due to a constitutional article that bars relatives of the president from seeking the position. In what some are claiming was a counter-move, Torres and Alvaro then filed for divorce on March 11 according to Guatemalan family court judge Mildred Roca. The president and the first lady stated the divorce petition was a "mutual agreement" meaning no lengthy judicial hearings will be needed, Roca told CNN.
Opponents of the couple and their political party are calling the divorce a fraud, saying the pair are bending the laws for their own political gain. Others say the action is turning the marriage into a joke.
"As public figures, they should set an example, and the worst part is that they are taking these actions only for the possibility of a candidacy," Constitutional lawyer Carlos Molina Mencos said in an interview with Guatemalan newspaperPrensa Libra. "This means that if they win they can reunite, or if not, they can also reunite. This is a mockery."
Supporters of the president and first lady, however, are applauding the effort.
"They were in a situation that was difficult, but for the good of the nation," said Jaime Martinez, general secretary of the Grand National Alliance party in Guatemala. "They are doing it for national interests and not personal interests. They are making a sacrifice."