Álvaro Colom

Excellency
Álvaro Colom
35th President of Guatemala
In office
January 14, 2008 – January 14, 2012
Vice President Rafael Espada
Preceded by Óscar Berger
Succeeded by Otto Pérez Molina
Personal details
Born Álvaro Colom Caballeros
(1951-06-15) June 15, 1951
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Political party National Unity of Hope
Spouse(s) Sandra Torres (2003–2011)
Alma mater University of San Carlos of Guatemala

Álvaro Colom Caballeros (Spanish: [ˈalβaɾo koˈlon]; born June 15, 1951) is a Guatemalan politician who was the President of Guatemala from 2008 to 2012, as well as leader of the social-democratic National Unity of Hope (UNE).

Early years

Colom was born in Guatemala City, the son of Antonio Colom Argueta and Yolanda Caballeros Ferraté, being the fourth of five siblings. His uncle, Manuel Colom, was a mayor of Guatemala City who was killed by the military in 1979 just after the creation of his political party was approved.[1] He is also the father of Antonio Colom Szarata, the bass player of a Guatemalan pop rock band, Viento en Contra.[2] He and his third wife, Sandra Torres, divorced in 2011 in order for his wife to be able to run in the 2011 presidential election.

After gaining a degree as an industrial engineer at the University of San Carlos (USAC) he became a businessman involved in a variety of businesses, and a government civil servant, including being the founding General Director of the Fondo Nacional para la Paz and Vice Minister of the Economy before turning to politics. One of his businesses was a "maquila" with associate Luis Mendizabal [3]

Representing the UNE (Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza) in the 2003 presidential elections, he lost to Óscar Berger on December 28, 2003–the closest a left-wing presidential candidate had come to winning the presidency since democracy was restored in 1985.

President (2008–2012)

He was one of the two candidates to reach the second stage of the 2007 presidential election on September 9, 2007 along with Partido Patriota candidate Otto Pérez Molina. At 10:00 p.m. local time on election night, Colom was declared the newly elected president by over five percentage points, 52.7% to 47.3%, with over 96% of polling places counted,[4] becoming Guatemala's first left-wing president in 53 years.[5] During the presidential campaign, Colom promised to tackle poverty in an effort to reduce the rate of crime in the country.[6]

As President, Colom expanded social programs[7] and access to health, education, and social security. These contributed to a rise in the living standards of the Guatemalan poor.[8][9]

In 2010 he appointed Helen Mack Chang, a noted human rights activist, to investigate police corruption and make recommendations for changes. She noted that their low pay and poor working conditions made them open to influence and needed to be addressed.[10]

Although he is opposed to the death penalty, Colom stated that he would not pardon those sentenced to death out of respect for the country's laws, although the option to do so was granted in 2008.[11]

2018 arrest

On 13 February 2018, Colom was arrested alongside all other members of his former Cabinet "as part of a local corruption investigation".[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ Pico, Juan Hernandez.Can Alvaro Become a Social Democratic President? Archived 2012-03-22 at the Wayback Machine.," Revista Envio. (accessed February 1, 2010).
  2. ↑ Hernandez, Vittorio. Alvaro Colom Takes Oath of Office as New Guatemalan President Archived 2011-11-24 at the Wayback Machine., AllHeadlineNews.com. (accessed February 1, 2010)
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-07-08. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  4. ↑ "2007 Results Archived 2007-10-28 at the Wayback Machine.," NEOTEC
  5. ↑ e.V., Transparency International. "Site no longer exists". archive.transparency.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25.
  6. ↑ Rosenberg Mica and Frank Jack Daniel. "Center-leftist beats general in Guatemala election Archived 2009-05-27 at the Wayback Machine.," Reuters, November 5, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Guatemalan Women Enter the Political Limelight Ahead of Sunday's Elections". www.americasquarterly.org. Archived from the original on 2015-10-31.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2011-10-29. , IPS News
  9. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2011-04-22. , Time magazine, October 18, 2010
  10. ↑ "Murder of Myrna Mack" Archived 2013-05-01 at the Wayback Machine., Guatemala Human Rights Commission, 2011, accessed June 13, 2013
  11. ↑ Death Penalty Guatemala: Green Light for Executions Archived 2013-02-21 at Archive.is, Inter-Press Service News Agency
  12. ↑ Menchu, Sofia (13 February 2018). "Guatemala arrests ex-president, Oxfam chairman in graft probe". Reuters. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  13. ↑ "Oxfam International chair held in Guatemala". 13 February 2018 – via www.bbc.com.
  • Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza Website
  • Extended biography by CIDOB Foundation (in Spanish)
  • "Centrist claims win in Guatemala". BBC News. 2007-11-05.
Political offices
Preceded by
Óscar Berger		 President of Guatemala
2008–2012		 Succeeded by
Otto Pérez Molina
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