Álvaro Colom: Difference between revisions
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==Early years== |
==Early years== |
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Colom is the son of Antonio Colom Argueta and Yolanda Caballeros Ferraté, being the fourth of five siblings. [[Manuel Colom Argueta]], a former mayor of Guatemala City who was killed by the military in [[1979]] just after the creation of his political party was approved, was his paternal uncle. He is also the father of Antonio Colom Szarata, the bass player of Guatemalan pop band [[Viento en Contra]]. |
Colom is the son of Antonio Colom Argueta and Yolanda Caballeros Ferraté, being the fourth of five siblings. [[Manuel Colom Argueta]], a former mayor of Guatemala City who was killed by the military in [[1979]] just after the creation of his political party was approved, was his paternal uncle. He is also the father of Antonio Colom Szarata, the bass player of Guatemalan pop band [[Viento en Contra]]. Previously widowed and divorced, he is now married to his third wife, Sandra Torres. |
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After gaining a degree as an [[industry|industrial]] [[engineer]] at the [[Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala|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. |
After gaining a degree as an [[industry|industrial]] [[engineer]] at the [[Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala|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. |
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Revision as of 01:37, 6 November 2007
Álvaro Colom | |
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| File:Colom1.jpg | |
| President-Elect of Guatemala | |
| Assumed office 14 January 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Óscar Berger |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 June 1951 Guatemala City |
| Political party | National Union of Hope |
| Spouse | Sandra Torres de Colom |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Politics of Guatemala |
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 Guatemala portal |
Álvaro Colom Caballeros (born 15 June 1951 in Guatemala City) is the elected president of Guatemala for the 2008-2012 period.
Early years
Colom is the son of Antonio Colom Argueta and Yolanda Caballeros Ferraté, being the fourth of five siblings. Manuel Colom Argueta, a former mayor of Guatemala City who was killed by the military in 1979 just after the creation of his political party was approved, was his paternal uncle. He is also the father of Antonio Colom Szarata, the bass player of Guatemalan pop band Viento en Contra. Previously widowed and divorced, he is now married to his third wife, Sandra Torres.
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. Representing the UNE (Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza) in the 2003 presidential elections he came second in the first round on 9 November, and then lost to Óscar Berger in the second round on 28 December.
2007 election
Alvaro Colom is a member of the centre-left National Union of Hope (UNE). He was one of the two candidates to reach the second stage of the 2007 presidential election on 9 September 2007 along with Partido Patriota candidate Otto Pérez Molina. As of 10:00 p.m. Guatemala 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. [1]
Support for Colom by middle and upper classes supposedly dropped after he was accused of receiving money from state funds to finance a small part of his political campaign. The funds for which he was accused were actually a payment for a service that Fundación de Amigos del País, an NGO supportive of UNE, got from one of the government institutions and later donated the Q500,000 to UNE. Later the charges were dropped for lack of evidence against him. Colom has denied all charges and has claimed to be a victim of political persecution and also returned the money he received from Fundación de Amigos del País. [citation needed]
Colom has said that he wants to reduce crime by tackling poverty[2] in Guatemala.
References
External links
- Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza Website
- "Centrist claims win in Guatemala". BBC News. 5 November 2007.