A former general vowing to crack down on crime in Central America’s most violent country and a businessman who promises to alleviate desperate poverty were in a near-tie in Guatemala’s presidential vote, according to preliminary votes released Monday. With 75 percent of voting stations reporting, Alvaro Colom, a businessman and three-time presidential contender of the center-left National Unity of Hope Party, had 28 percent of the vote compared with 25 percent for Otto Perez, a former general from the conservative Patriot Party. Full Story