Alejandro Maldonado

Alejandro Baltazar Maldonado Aguirre (born January 6, 1936) is a Guatemalan statesman who served as the acting President of Guatemala, following the Congress' acceptance of the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina on September 3, 2015.[1]

For the Argentine Paralympic athlete, see Alejandro Maldonado (athlete).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Maldonado and the second or maternal family name is Aguirre.
Alejandro Maldonado
Official portrait, 2015
37th President of Guatemala
Acting
In office
3 September 2015 – 14 January 2016
Vice PresidentAlfonso Fuentes Soria
Preceded byOtto Pérez Molina
Succeeded byJimmy Morales
14th Vice President of Guatemala
In office
14 May 2015 – 3 September 2015
PresidentOtto Pérez Molina
Preceded byRoxana Baldetti
Succeeded byAlfonso Fuentes Soria
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
6 June 1993 – 14 January 1996
PresidentRamiro de León Carpio
Preceded byGonzalo Menéndez
Succeeded byEduardo Stein
Minister of Education
In office
1 July 1970 – 1 July 1974
PresidentCarlos Arana Osorio
Preceded byCarlos Martínez Durán
Succeeded byGuillermo Putzeys
Additional positions
Deputy of the Central American Parliament
In office
27 January 2016 – 14 January 2020
Serving with Alfonso Fuentes Soria
PresidentJimmy Morales
Preceded byÁlvaro Colom
Succeeded byJimmy Morales
ConstituencyFormer President of Guatemala
Member of the Court of Constitutionality of Guatemala
In office
14 April 2006 – 14 May 2015
Nominated byCongress of Guatemala
Preceded byNery Saúl Dighero Herrera
Succeeded byGloria Patricia Porras
In office
14 April 1996 – 14 April 2001
Nominated bySupreme Court of Justice
Preceded byEdmundo Vásquez Martínez
Succeeded byRodolfo Rohrmoser
In office
9 June 1986 – 14 April 1991
Nominated byVinicio Cerezo
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byJosefina Vargas de Machado
First Vice President of the Congress of Guatemala
In office
14 January 2005 – 14 January 2006
Serving with Roxana Baldetti and Leonel Rodríguez
PresidentJorge Méndez Herbruger
Preceded byRubén Darío Morales Veliz
Succeeded byOliverio García Rodas
Deputy of the Congress of Guatemala
In office
1 July 1966 – 1 July 1970
1 July 1984 – 1 July 1986
14 January 2004 – 14 April 2006
ConstituencyNational List
Personal details
Born
Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre

(1936-01-06) 6 January 1936
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Political partyNational Liberation Movement (Before 1978)
National Renewal Party (1978–1990)
Unionist Party (2002–2006)
Independent (2006–present)
Other political
affiliations		National Opposition Union (1982)
SpouseAna Fagianni de Maldonado
CabinetCabinet of Alejandro Maldonado
Signature

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.

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.[6]

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

Vice President of Guatemala

Maldonado served as Vice President of Guatemala from his selection to the position following the resignation of Roxana Baldetti on May 14, 2015, until his accession as president on September 3, 2015.

President of Guatemala

Maldonado, as vice president, became acting president of Guatemala on September 3, 2015, upon the confirmation by the Congress of Guatemala of the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina.

References
  1. "Guatemala judge orders jail for ex-president Perez Molina". BBC News. 4 September 2015.
  2. "Guatemala congress taps Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre VP after Roxana Baldetti resigns in wake of customs scandal". New York Daily News. May 14, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  3. "Jurist Chosen as Guatemala's New VP". Latin American Herald Tribune. May 16, 2015. Archived from the original on May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-23. Retrieved 2015-09-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Result of Vote In Guatemala Still Unclear". Washington Post. March 9, 1982.
  6. Cristina Silva (May 21, 2015). "Guatemala President Resignation Scandal Sees Thousands Of Protesters Demonstrate Against Corruption". International Business Times. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
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