Patriotic Party (Guatemala)
Encyclopedia
The Patriotic Party is a right wing political party
in Guatemala
.
It was founded on 24 February 2001 by retired Army
General
Otto Pérez Molina.
held on 9 November 2003, the party was part of the Grand National Alliance
which won 24.3% of the vote and 47 out of 158 Congressional
seats. The presidential candidate of the alliance, Óscar Berger Perdomo, won 34.3% at the presidential elections of the same day. He won 54.1% at the second round and was elected president.
of the National Unity of Hope
(UNE).
On 9 October 2007, armed assailants shot and killed Aura Marina Salazar Cutzal, secretary to the Patriotic Party's congressional delegation and assistant to Pérez Molina, along with a professional bodyguard, Valerio Ramiro Castañón. Salazar Cutzal, 33, was a Kaqchikel Mayan Indian and a mother of two. Pérez Molina blamed organized crime for the killing and said it was the eighth murder of a member of his party.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
.
It was founded on 24 February 2001 by retired Army
Military of Guatemala
The Military of Guatemala consists of National Army of Guatemala , the Guatemalan Navy and the Guatemalan Air Force ....
General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Otto Pérez Molina.
2003 election
At the legislative electionsElections in Guatemala
Elections in Guatemala include, on the national level, a head of state – the president – and a unicameral legislature.Guatemala's president and vice-president are elected on one ballot for a four year term by the people...
held on 9 November 2003, the party was part of the Grand National Alliance
Grand National Alliance
The Grand National Alliance is a right-wing political party in Guatemala. The acronym "GANA" also spells out the word gana, from the verb ganar, "to win".-Formation and 2003 election:...
which won 24.3% of the vote and 47 out of 158 Congressional
Congress of Guatemala
The Congress of the Republic is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Guatemala.It comprises 158 deputies, who are elected by direct universal suffrage to serve four-year terms . Twenty-nine of these are elected from nationwide lists, with the rest on a district list basis...
seats. The presidential candidate of the alliance, Óscar Berger Perdomo, won 34.3% at the presidential elections of the same day. He won 54.1% at the second round and was elected president.
2007 election
In the 9 September 2007 legislative election, the Patriotic Party won 15.91% of the vote and 30 seats in Congress. Presidential candidate General Otto Pérez Molina placed second in the presidential race with 23.5% of the vote, eventually losing in the 4 November run-off to centrist Álvaro ColomÁlvaro Colom
Álvaro Colom Caballeros is the President of Guatemala for the 2008–2012 term and leader of the social-democratic National Unity of Hope .-Early years:...
of the National Unity of Hope
National Unity of Hope
The National Unity of Hope is a political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 2002 and defines itself as a social-democratic and social-Christian party....
(UNE).
Armed attacks on the Patriotic Party
Some party members have been attacked by unidentified elements, probably belonging to rival right wing factions. On 11 November 2000, Pérez Molina's son, Otto Pérez Leal, was attacked by gunmen while driving with his wife and infant daughter. On 21 February 2001, three days before Pérez Molina was scheduled to launch his new political party, masked gunmen attacked and wounded his daughter Lissette. The same day, masked gunmen shot and killed Patricia Castellanos Fuentes de Aguilar, who had just departed her house after meeting with Pérez Molina's wife, Rosa María Leal. On 14 March, four armed men shot and killed Jorge Rosal, a regional leader of the PP, as he left the party's Guatemala City headquarters. Four days earlier, Rosal had participated in a march with other members of the PP involved in the Civic Movement, a political association founded to protest government corruption. On 15 May, the widower of Patricia Castellanos, Francisco Aguilar Alonzom, who had been investigating his wife's death and had formed a citizens' group opposed to violence and impunity, was shot and killed in his car. Human rights groups claimed that the killings were politically motivated.On 9 October 2007, armed assailants shot and killed Aura Marina Salazar Cutzal, secretary to the Patriotic Party's congressional delegation and assistant to Pérez Molina, along with a professional bodyguard, Valerio Ramiro Castañón. Salazar Cutzal, 33, was a Kaqchikel Mayan Indian and a mother of two. Pérez Molina blamed organized crime for the killing and said it was the eighth murder of a member of his party.