Álvaro Arzú
Encyclopedia
Álvaro Enrique Arzú Yrigoyen (born March 14, 1946, in Guatemala City
) was the 32nd President of Guatemala
from January 14, 1996 until January 14, 2000. He has been elected Mayor
of Guatemala City
on five occasions: in 1982, but was prevented from assuming office because of a coup d'état
; in 1986, this time assuming and serving his mandate; again in January 2004; and he was re-elected for a third effective term in September 2007 with 55 percent of the popular vote. Arzú was re-elected in September 2011 for a third consecutive term as mayor of the capital, which will commence in January 2012.
. In 1978 he became the Director of the Guatemalan Tourist Institute (INGUAT) until in 1981 he was elected Mayor of Guatemala City for the Guatemalan Christian Democracy
(DCG) party. When in March 1982 General Efraín Ríos Montt
took power in a coup he annulled the election results. The government offered him another job working for the municipality (of Guatemala City), but he refused it. In 1986 he became Mayor under the umbrella of the Civic Committee Plan for National Advancement in a national elections that saw the DGC sweep to power, with Vinicio Cerezo
becoming President.
In 1989 the Civic Committee Plan became a formal political party called the National Advancement Party
(PAN), and in 1990 he was their presidential candidate, coming in fourth place with 17.3 percent of the vote. The winner, Jorge Serrano
, made Arzú his foreign minister
, but he then resigned on September 21 in protest against Serrano's decision to normalize relations with Belize
, over most of whose territory Guatemala has long standing claims. On October 13 he became PAN's General Secretary, a position from which he resigned on June 25, 1995 in order to concentrate on being PAN's candidate in the November presidential elections.
After the presidential term, Arzu has been mayor for Guatemala's Capital City for three four-year terms in a row.
Arzu is also a member of the Club of Madrid
.
of the Guatemalan Republican Front
(FRG, Frente Republicano Guatemalteco) in the second round in January 1996, gaining 51.2 percent of the vote. PAN gained a slim majority with 43 out of 80 of the National Congress
seats. The main achievement of his presidency was to sign an agreement with the guerrilla group the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity
, that ended Guatemala's 36-year-long Civil War
. His promise to do this had been a pivotal part of his electoral campaign. There had been six years of negotiations since the Oslo
Agreement of March 1990, and Arzú gave them a vital new impulse when he personally met the URNG in Mexico
on February 26, 1996. A ceasefire followed on March 20. Various peace agreements were signed as the year progressed until in December when a number of agreements were signed in Oslo. On December 12 an accord legalizing the URNG was signed in Madrid
. On December 18 Congress passed a law giving a partial amnesty to the combatants, before the final accord for a firm and lasting peace was signed on December 29.
On April 26, 1998 the assistant Archbishop to Guatemala City Juan José Gerardi was murdered, two days after publishing a report on the suspected involvement of the military in past atrocities. Arzú declared three days of national mourning, and said it was a common and not a political crime. With suspicions that the President's own guard had been behind the murder, and amidst mounting national and international pressure, he formed a commission with his most trusted collaborators, and members of the church, to fully investigate the crime.
On October 16 Congress passed constitutional reform describing Guatemala as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual society. This was part of the peace agreements signed between the Government and the URNG. Yet in a referendum the following May the population (or at least the 18.6% that voted) rejected this proposition, which represented a blow for the government.
Álvaro Arzú has also been Guatemala's national squash rackets champion on several occasions.
Guatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
) was the 32nd President of Guatemala
President of Guatemala
The title of President of Guatemala has been the usual title of the leader of Guatemala since 1839, when that title was assumed by Mariano Rivera Paz...
from January 14, 1996 until January 14, 2000. He has been elected Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Guatemala City
Guatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
on five occasions: in 1982, but was prevented from assuming office because of a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
; in 1986, this time assuming and serving his mandate; again in January 2004; and he was re-elected for a third effective term in September 2007 with 55 percent of the popular vote. Arzú was re-elected in September 2011 for a third consecutive term as mayor of the capital, which will commence in January 2012.
Career
Arzú studied Social and Legal Sciences from Rafael Landívar UniversityRafael Landívar University
Universidad Rafael Landívar is a private, Jesuit University in Guatemala. The main campus is in Zone 16 of Guatemala City and is known as Vista Hermosa III, and there are satellite campuses in Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, Cobán, Zacapa and other parts of the country.Many recent Guatemalan...
. In 1978 he became the Director of the Guatemalan Tourist Institute (INGUAT) until in 1981 he was elected Mayor of Guatemala City for the Guatemalan Christian Democracy
Guatemalan Christian Democracy
The Guatemalan Christian Democracy , founded 24 August 1955, was a political party in Guatemala. It was a moderate reformist party, although also anti-Communist. It first won congressional seats in [Guatemalan parliamentary election, 1955|1955]]. In 1957, it contested presidential elections but...
(DCG) party. When in March 1982 General Efraín Ríos Montt
Efraín Ríos Montt
José Efraín Ríos Montt is a former de facto President of Guatemala, dictator, army general, and former president of Congress. In the 2003 presidential elections, he unsuccessfully ran as the candidate of the ruling Guatemalan Republican Front .Huehuetenango-born Ríos Montt remains one of the most...
took power in a coup he annulled the election results. The government offered him another job working for the municipality (of Guatemala City), but he refused it. In 1986 he became Mayor under the umbrella of the Civic Committee Plan for National Advancement in a national elections that saw the DGC sweep to power, with Vinicio Cerezo
Vinicio Cerezo
Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo is a Guatemalan politician. He served as President of Guatemala from 14 January 1986 to 14 January 1991 and currently sits in Congress.-Career:...
becoming President.
In 1989 the Civic Committee Plan became a formal political party called the National Advancement Party
National Advancement Party
The National Advancement Party is a political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 1989.In the 1990 and 1995 elections its presidential candidate was Álvaro Arzú who won in 1995, becoming Guatemala's 32nd president ....
(PAN), and in 1990 he was their presidential candidate, coming in fourth place with 17.3 percent of the vote. The winner, Jorge Serrano
Jorge Serrano Elías
Jorge Antonio Serrano Elías was President of Guatemala from January 14, 1991 to May 31, 1993.-Career:Serrano was born April 26, 1945 in Guatemala City as the son of Jorge Adán Serrano and Rosa Elías...
, made Arzú his foreign minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
, but he then resigned on September 21 in protest against Serrano's decision to normalize relations with Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, over most of whose territory Guatemala has long standing claims. On October 13 he became PAN's General Secretary, a position from which he resigned on June 25, 1995 in order to concentrate on being PAN's candidate in the November presidential elections.
After the presidential term, Arzu has been mayor for Guatemala's Capital City for three four-year terms in a row.
Arzu is also a member of the Club of Madrid
Club of Madrid
The Club de Madrid is an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Composed of 80 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 56 countries, the Club de Madrid is the world’s largest forum of former Heads of State and Government.Among...
.
President
He won the first round in November, and then narrowly beat Alfonso PortilloAlfonso Portillo
Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera is a Guatemalan politician. He served as the President of the Republic of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004....
of the Guatemalan Republican Front
Guatemalan Republican Front
The Guatemalan Republican Front is a right-wing political party in Guatemala.It was created in 1989 by former president and dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, and formally registered in 1990...
(FRG, Frente Republicano Guatemalteco) in the second round in January 1996, gaining 51.2 percent of the vote. PAN gained a slim majority with 43 out of 80 of the National Congress
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 main achievement of his presidency was to sign an agreement with the guerrilla group the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity
The Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity is a Guatemalan political party that started as a guerrilla movement but laid down its arms in 1996 and became a legal political party in 1998 after the peace process after the Guatemalan Civil War.-Formation:Since the CIA-backed...
, that ended Guatemala's 36-year-long Civil War
Guatemalan Civil War
The Guatemalan Civil War ran from 1960-1996. The thirty-six-year civil war began as a grassroots, popular response to the rightist and military usurpation of civil government , and the President's disrespect for the human and civil rights of the majority of the population...
. His promise to do this had been a pivotal part of his electoral campaign. There had been six years of negotiations since the Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
Agreement of March 1990, and Arzú gave them a vital new impulse when he personally met the URNG in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
on February 26, 1996. A ceasefire followed on March 20. Various peace agreements were signed as the year progressed until in December when a number of agreements were signed in Oslo. On December 12 an accord legalizing the URNG was signed in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. On December 18 Congress passed a law giving a partial amnesty to the combatants, before the final accord for a firm and lasting peace was signed on December 29.
On April 26, 1998 the assistant Archbishop to Guatemala City Juan José Gerardi was murdered, two days after publishing a report on the suspected involvement of the military in past atrocities. Arzú declared three days of national mourning, and said it was a common and not a political crime. With suspicions that the President's own guard had been behind the murder, and amidst mounting national and international pressure, he formed a commission with his most trusted collaborators, and members of the church, to fully investigate the crime.
On October 16 Congress passed constitutional reform describing Guatemala as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual society. This was part of the peace agreements signed between the Government and the URNG. Yet in a referendum the following May the population (or at least the 18.6% that voted) rejected this proposition, which represented a blow for the government.
Family and personal
Arzú has three children from his first wife, Sylvia García Granados: Roberto, Diego and María. He has two children from his second wife, Patricia, to whom he is still married. He has six grandchildren.Álvaro Arzú has also been Guatemala's national squash rackets champion on several occasions.
Awards
- 1996: UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
's Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace PrizeFélix Houphouët-Boigny Peace PrizeThe Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize was established in 1990 by UNESCO:The prize bears the name of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, late former president of Côte d'Ivoire. It is awarded annually. The prize is 122,000 euros, to be shared equally in the case of multiple recipients.-Recipients:-External... - 1997: During his presidency, the government of Guatemala was awarded SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
's Prince of Asturias AwardPrince of Asturias AwardsThe Prince of Asturias Awards are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Prince of Asturias Foundation to individuals, entities or organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, and public affairs....
for International Co-operation. - Monseñor Leonidas Proaño Human Rights Prize (ALDHU)
- 2005: Ranked third in the World MayorWorld MayorWorld Mayor is a biennial award organized by The City Mayors Foundation since 2004. It intends to raise the profile of mayors worldwide, as well as honour those who have served their communities well and who have contributed to the well-being of cities, nationally and internationally...
contest.
External links
- Biography and presidential tenure, by CIDOB Foundation
- Profile citymayors
- Arzú Alcalde 2007 mayoral campaign website