Alejandro Maldonado

Alejandro Maldonado
President of Guatemala Acting
In office 3 September 2015 – 14 January 2016
Vice President	Alfonso Fuentes Soria
Preceded by	Otto Pérez Molina
Succeeded by	Jimmy Morales
14th Vice President of Guatemala
In office 14 May 2015 – 3 September 2015
President	Otto Pérez Molina
Preceded by	Roxana Baldetti
Succeeded by	Alfonso Fuentes Soria
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala
In office 6 June 1993 – 14 January 1996
President	Ramiro de León Carpio
Preceded by	Gonzalo Menéndez
Succeeded by	Eduardo Stein
Minister of Education of Guatemala
In office 1 July 1970 – 1 July 1974
President	Carlos Arana Osorio
Preceded by	Carlos Martínez Durán
Succeeded by	Guillermo Putzeys
Diplomatic career Guatemala Ambassador of the United Nations In office 1 July 1974 – 1 July 1978 President Kjell Laugerud García Guatemala Ambassador to the European Office of the United Nations In office 1 July 1978 – 1 July 1980 President Romeo Lucas García Guatemala Ambassador in Mexico In office 14 January 1991 – 6 July 1993 Member of the National Council of Belize In office 14 January 1996 – 14 December 1996
Legislative career and others First Vice President of the Congress of Guatemala In office 14 January 2005 – 14 January 2006 Serving with Roxana Baldetti and Leonel Rodríguez President Jorge Méndez Herbruger Preceded by Rubén Darío Morales Veliz Succeeded by Oliverio García Rodas Deputy of the Central American Parliament Incumbent Assumed office 27 January 2016 Serving with Alfonso Fuentes Soria President Jimmy Morales Preceded by Álvaro Colom Succeeded by Jimmy Morales (designated) Constituency Former President of Guatemala Deputy of the Congress of Guatemala In office 1 July 1966 – 1 July 1970 1 July 1984 – 1 July 1986 14 January 2004 – 14 January 2008 Constituency National List Member of the Guatemala City Council In office 1956
Judicial career President of the Court of Constitutionality of Guatemala In office 14 April 1989 – 14 April 1990 14 April 1997 – 14 April 1998 14 April 2006 – 14 April 2007 Member of the Court of Constitutionality of Guatemala In office 14 April 1986 – 14 April 1991 14 April 1996 – 14 April 2001 14 April 2006 – 14 May 2015
Personal details
Born	Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre (1936-01-06) 6 January 1936 Guatemala City, Guatemala
Political party	National Liberation Movement (Before 1982) Unionist Party (1982–2006) Independent (2006–present)
Other political affiliations	National Opposition Union (1982)
Spouse(s)	Ana Fagianni de Maldonado

Alejandro Baltazar Maldonado Aguirre (born January 6, 1936) is a Guatemalan politician who was the Acting President of Guatemala, following the Congress of Guatemala's acceptance of the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina on September 3, 2015.^[1]

He was elected as Vice President by Congress on May 14, 2015, after his predecessor, Roxana Baldetti, resigned amid allegations of corruption. Before becoming Vice President, he served as a constitutional judge, congressional deputy, ambassador to the United Nations, and political leader, including a failed presidential bid in 1982.^[2][3] He was Minister of Education from 1970 to 1974 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996.

History

Born in Guatemala City, Maldonado graduated from San Carlos University with a degree in law.^[4]

Since the 1960s, he was a member of the far-right National Liberation Movement political party (Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional or MLN), alleged to have started the use of death squads against communists. He was also Minister of Education under the military regime of Arana Osorio (1970–1974) and defended Guatemala before the United Nations when the international community isolated the military regime of Lucas García (1978–1982) for its gross human rights violations.

In the 1980s, he formed the National Renewal Party and joined a coalition with Guatemalan Christian Democracy in the 1982 election. Maldonado placed third in a blatantly rigged election which he may have won had the contest been free and fair,^[5] which was followed by a military coup. In 1985 he was again a presidential candidate for his party but placed seventh out of eight candidates and only one seat in Congress. He would continue to hold numerous public posts, including that of Foreign Minister.

Later, Maldonado served as a judge on the Constitutional Court judge on three occasions, where he was responsible for several controversial decisions. In May 2013 Maldonado was judge on the appeal case of former president Efraín Ríos Montt's conviction for genocide. Whereas in the first session Ríos Montt was found guilty, Maldonado and two others of the five-person Constitutional Court annulled the proceedings.^[6]

One week after his appointment as Vice President in May 2015, protesters sought his resignation because he had overturned the guilty verdict in the Ríos Montt trial.^[7][8]

Public positions held

• 1956: Member of the Guatemala City Council
• 1966–1970: Congressional deputy, for the National Liberation Movement
• 1970–1974: Minister of Education (under President Arana Osorio)
• 1974–1976: Ambassador to the United Nations (New York City)
• 1978–1980: Ambassador to the United Nations (Geneva)
• 1984–1986: Deputy to the National Constituent Assembly
• 1986–1991: Magistrate of the Constitutional Court (incl. 1989–1991, President)
• 1991–1995: Ambassador to Mexico
• 1995–1996: Minister of Foreign Affairs (under President de León Carpio)
• 1996–2001: Magistrate of the Constitutional Court (incl. 1997–1998, President)
• 2004–2006: Congressional deputy, for the Unionist Party
• 2006–2011: Magistrate of the Constitutional Court (incl. 2006–2007, President)
• 2015: Vice President of the Republic
• 2015: President of the Republic

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alejandro Maldonado.

• Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre: el nuevo Presidente de Guatemala
• Former Constitutional Court Judge Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre Appointed Vice President
• Congressional résumé
• Biography by CIDOB (in Spanish)