Politics of Guatemala takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, where by the President of Guatemala is both head of state, head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Congress of the Republic. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Guatemala is a Constitutional Republic.
Juan José Arévalo Bermejo was a Guatemalan statesman and professor of philosophy who became Guatemala's first democratically elected president in 1945. He was elected following a popular uprising against the United States-backed dictator Jorge Ubico that began the Guatemalan Revolution. He remained in office until 1951, surviving 25 coup attempts. He did not contest the election of 1951, instead choosing to hand over power to Jacobo Árbenz. As president, he enacted several social reform policies, including an increase in the minimum wage and a series of literacy programs. He also oversaw the drafting of a new constitution in 1945. He is the father of the current President of Guatemala Bernardo Arévalo.
The National Unity of Hope is a populist political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 2002 and defined itself as a social-democratic and social-Christian party, but since transformed and is now described as a right-wing party. It is the largest political party in Guatemala by the number of members.
Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García was a Guatemalan military officer who served as the 36th president of Guatemala from 1974 until 1978. A member of the National Liberation Movement, he previously served as General Staff of the Army from 1970 to 1972 and Minister of national defence from 1972 to 1973 under President Carlos Arana Osorio.
Álvaro Colom Caballeros was a Guatemalan engineer, businessman, and politician who served as the 47th president of Guatemala from 2008 to 2012, as well as the General-Secretary of the political party, National Unity of Hope (UNE).
The Ministry of National Defence is the agency of the Guatemalan government responsible for the budget, training and policy of the military of Guatemala. Based in Guatemala City, the Defence Ministry is highly guarded, and the President of Guatemala frequently visits. Prior to 1945 the agency was titled the Secretariat of War.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Guatemala:
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically bordered to the south by the Pacific Ocean and to the northeast by the Gulf of Honduras.
Sir Ronald Michael Sanders is an Antiguan Barbudan diplomat, academic, former broadcast-journalist, and the current Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States and to the Organization of American States (OAS) since 2015. He holds the unique distinction of being the first person, since the OAS enlarged its membership in 1962, to serve as Chairman of the Permanent Council of the OAS for an unprecedented three terms. He completed his highly successful third term on December 31, 2023, having played a widely recognized role in guiding the work of the Permanent Council in the peaceful transition of government in Guatemala on 14 January 2024.
Juan Martín Barrundia Flores was a military officer and liberal politician from Guatemala. He was the son of the influential liberal leader José Francisco Barrundia. Barrundia was appointed as Secretary of War during the constitutional presidential term of general Justo Rufino Barrios, until the violent death of Barrios, on 2 April 1885. After the president's death, Barrundia was hoping to reach the presidency, but was outsmarted by general Manuel Lisandro Barillas, governor of Quetzaltenango who became president instead.
Movimiento Semilla is a centre-left, progressivist, social-democratic political party in Guatemala. As of January 14, 2024, it became Guatemala's current government party.
César Guillermo Castillo Reyes is a Guatemalan attorney and politician who served as the 17th vice president of Guatemala from 2020 to 2024.
The General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Argentine Nation is a secretariat of state of the Argentine National Executive counting with ministerial level, tasked with assisting the President of Argentina in the making of public policy, drafting messages and public speeches, maintaining the presidential protocol and overseeing the relationship between the President and society at large.
General elections were held in Guatemala on 25 June 2023 to elect the president and vice president, all 160 seats in Congress, all 20 members of the Central American Parliament, and mayors and councils for all the country's 340 municipalities. Incumbent president Alejandro Giammattei was constitutionally prohibited from running for a second four-year term. However, as no presidential candidate obtained over 50 percent of the vote in the first round on 25 June 2023, a second round was held between the top two finishers on 20 August 2023: Congressman Bernardo Arévalo of the Movimiento Semilla and Sandra Torres, a former first lady representing the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party. Arévalo defeated Torres in the second round with nearly 61 percent of the vote in what was seen as a landslide. The ruling Vamos party won the largest number of seats in Congress.
César Bernardo Arévalo de León is a Guatemalan diplomat, sociologist, writer, and politician who is the 52nd and current president of Guatemala. A member and co-founder of the Semilla party, he previously served as a deputy in the Congress of Guatemala from 2020 to 2024, as Ambassador to Spain from 1995 to 1996 and as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1995.
The Council of Ministers of Guatemala governs the country through the executive branch of Guatemala. There is a total of 14 ministries, each headed by a Minister that is appointed by the president.
Karin Larissa Herrera Aguilar is a Guatemalan biologist, professor, sociologist, and politician who is currently serving as the 18th vice president of Guatemala. A member of the political party Semilla, she was elected vice president alongside President Bernardo Arévalo, having won the second round of the 2023 presidential election.
The inauguration of Bernardo Arévalo as the 52nd president of Guatemala on Monday, 15 January 2024 marked the commencement of the four-year term of Bernardo Arévalo as president and Karin Herrera as vice president.
Bernardo Arévalo, the president-elect of Guatemala, completed his transition to the presidency upon being sworn in on the 15th of January 2024. He became the candidate of Semilla in January 2020. Vice-president-elect Karin Herrera led Arévalo's transition team.
Carlos Ramiro Martínez Alvarado is a Guatemalan diplomat serving as the minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala since 15 January 2024. He previously served as the ambassador to Argentina and Paraguay.
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