Óscar José Rafael Berger Perdomo, born on 11 August 1946 in Guatemala City

Guatemala City

Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...

, is a former 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...

.

Early years

Of Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 descent, Berger was born to an upper class family with large sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

 and coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

 holdings. He graduated in law from the private, Jesuit Rafael Landívar University

Rafael 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...

.

Marriage and career

In 1967 he married Wendy Widmann, also from a land owning Guatemalan family. From the mid seventies he ran a successful skittles

Skittles (sport)

Skittles is an old European lawn game, a variety of bowling, from which ten-pin bowling, duckpin bowling, and candlepin bowling in the United States, and five-pin bowling in Canada are descended. In the United Kingdom, the game remains a popular pub game in England and Wales, though it tends to be...

 parlor. In 1985 he joined Álvaro Arzú

Álvaro Arzú

Álvaro Enrique Arzú Yrigoyen was the 32nd President of Guatemala from January 14, 1996 until January 14, 2000...

's successful campaign to become mayor of Guatemala City. From January 1991 to June 1999, he was mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 himself.

Political career

In the general election held on 9 November 2003, Berger was candidate for the conservative 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:...

 after being persuaded out of a retirement spent farming to return to politics. He obtained 34 percent of the votes, putting him well ahead of Álvaro Colom

Álvaro 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 Union of Hope (26 percent) and former president 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...

 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...

(19 percent).

A run-off vote between Berger and Colom took place on 28 December 2003, which Berger won with a 54 percent share of the vote. He was sworn in on 14 January 2004 and left office 14 January 2008.