Guatemala 1st Lady divorces for presidential bid

(CBS/AP) GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemala's first lady has proven that love and politics don't mix by seeking to end her eight-year marriage in order to succeed her husband as president.

Guatemala's constitution prohibits members of a president's extended family from running for the presidency.

Judiciary spokesman Edwin Escobar says divorce proceedings began Monday between Sandra Torres de Colom and President Alvaro Colom, who cannot run for re-election.

If both parties agree, the divorce could be final in about a month.

Torres announced March 8 that she will be the presidential candidate of the governing National Unity for Hope party in the September election.

The constitution was written in 1985 when a right-wing military held sway, and the intention was to close the doors to the presidency, reports the Los Angeles Times.

President Colom's government has not been able to avoid accusations of corruption in a country famous for them, the Times reports. A WikiLeaks diplomatic cable called Mrs. Colom the "most able" member of the government and the "most abrasive."

Despite her "sacrifice," Mrs. Colom is apparently trailing in presidential polls ahead of the election.

Several opponents and constitutionalists have decried the move as "immoral." Constitutional lawyer Carlos Molina Mencos told the Guatemala Times: "No presidency should be worth a marriage, for me, her campaign touched bottom, it is based on an immoral act, meaning that the marriage, the foundation of the family, does not apply to the presidential candidate."