I left Guatemala [City] for my town very short of money, but by the grace of God, a little content. In Sololá I bought Prensa Libre, which had a lot of commentary about the election of the president of the United States. It says that according to the forecast, Ronald Reagan will be reelected and meanwhile Mondale will obtain 47% of the votes of the North Americans. Also it says that Mondale is not interested in winning [doing anything about] the election because the next Thursday, a day after the voting, he has planned a trip with his family to celebrate his defeat. This is the way it is when there is understanding. He who wins, wins; and he who loses, loses. One always has to accept it. For certain I liked a lot the declarations of Señor Mondale, thanks to the intelligence that he has.

But I'm going to talk a little about the politics in Guatemala. When they lose an election, they begin to think about bad intentions of killing the winner. Never do they accept that he won. The Prensa says that Señor Mondale knows that Ronald Reagan wom, and he saluted him by telephone. How good that the loser congratulated his adversary by telephone! But in Guatemala they congratulate with bullets. For this reason I say that wickedness rules more than friendship in my Guatemala.

—Diary of Ignacio Bizarro Ujpán, 6 November 1984