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Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla (; born 9 March 1956) is a Guatemalan politician who was the 51st
president of Guatemala The president of Guatemala (), officially titled President of the Republic of Guatemala (), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a single four-year term. The position of President was created in 1839. Selectio ...
from 2020 to 2024. He is a former director of the Guatemalan penitentiary system and participated in Guatemala's presidential elections in
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
,
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, and
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
. He won in the 2019 election, and assumed office on 14 January 2020.


Political career

Giammattei was the general coordinator of the electoral processes in 1985, 1988, and 1990. He gained recognition at both national and international level. He has been a consultant to several companies since 2000. After losing the mayoral elections, he was appointed director of the Guatemalan Penitentiary System in 2006. He ceased to be director of the Penitentiary System in 2008. He had several conflicts and accusations about the Pavorreal case, leading to his incarceration for a short time. Giammattei has had three appearances in the general elections for President of Guatemala. The first was in 2007, with the then-official party, the Great National Alliance (GANA), with strong participation. The second was in 2011 with the Social Action Center Party, but it was dissolved due to not reaching the minimum percentage of votes required by the TSE. In the elections of 2015, he joined the presidency with the FUERZA party.


Presidency (2020–2024)

Giammattei became the presidential candidate for the
Vamos Vamos (Greek language, Greek: Βάμος) is a small town and former municipality in the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform "Kallikratis" it is a municipal unit, part of the municipa ...
party in the 2019 presidential elections. He placed second in the first round behind Sandra Torres on 16 June 2019, with 13.95% of the vote, but won the second round against the latter on 11 August 2019, with 57.96% of the vote. On 14 January 2020, Giammattei assumed office as president of the Republic of Guatemala, succeeding
Jimmy Morales James Ernesto Morales Cabrera (; born 18 March 1969) is a Guatemalan politician, actor, and comedian who served as the 50th president of Guatemala from 2016 to 2020. Early and personal life Morales was born in Guatemala City to José Everar ...
.


Political crisis in 2020

Guatemala experienced a political crisis in November 2020 following the adoption of a controversial budget. Most of the funds are earmarked for privately managed infrastructure and neglect the fight against poverty and child malnutrition, which affects nearly half of all children under five while generating an increase in
public debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occu ...
. Congress was set on fire following the repression of a demonstration by the police. At the same time, the Vice President, Guillermo Castillo Reyes, called on Alejandro Giammattei to resign for "the good of the country." This crisis came at a time when the government was also facing criticism for its handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, as hospitals quickly became saturated and the Ministry of Health was accused of withholding information about the pandemic.


Repressive measures

At the end of July 2022, the police arrested journalist José Rubén Zamora, founder of the daily El Periódico. They searched the newspaper's headquarters, which had accused President Alejandro Giammattei and Attorney General Consuelo Porras of corruption. In the countryside, indigenous communities defending their territories and peasant movements were repressed. Selective assassinations of social leaders (peasants, environmentalists, trade unionists) continued year after year, with no reaction from the justice system. A new law on NGOs allowed the president to ban any association they suspected of "disturbing public order" and provided mechanisms to stifle them financially. The
International Federation for Human Rights The International Federation for Human Rights (; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international human rights organization worldwide after Anti-Slavery International ...
, the
World Organisation Against Torture The World Organisation Against Torture (''Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture''; OMCT) is the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial execution ...
, and other NGOs warned in 2022 about the "strengthening of authoritarian rule" in Guatemala and declared that the country is "experiencing an alarming phenomenon of capture and control of public institutions by economic and political elites."


Legislation against abortion and homosexuality

In 2022, the Guatemalan congress passed a bill that would increase prison sentences for abortion, ban sex education in schools, and declare homosexuals "minority groups incompatible with Christian morality." While initially supportive, Giammattei reversed his position on the bill on 11 March 2022, announcing that he would veto the bill unless Congress pulled it back, citing that it violated two international conventions that Guatemala was a signatory to as well as the Guatemalan constitution. On 15 March, Congress indefinitely suspended consideration of the bill.


2022 Huehuetenango attack

On 30 July 2022, while Gianmattei was visiting some places in the Huehuetenango Department, one of them not far from the Mexican border, there was an incident between security forces and armed people in a vehicle. While initial reports presumed the incident was an assassination attempt, later reports indicated that Giammattei was never at risk, neither targeted by the attack nor even close to it.


Suspicions of corruption

In July 2021, Alejandro Giammattei's
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
, María Consuelo Porras, dismissed the head of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity, Juan Francisco Sandoval, since he intended to investigate corruption cases linked to the president. He left the country shortly afterward to 'protect islife and integrity.' This controversial decision was followed by demonstrations calling on the president to resign. The Attorney General subsequently stepped up her crackdown on judges, lawyers, and prosecutors linked to the fight against corruption; several former investigators of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity (FECI) and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) were arrested in 2022, and others forced into exile or else continually harassed. A link to these juridical persecutions appeared in February 2022, when the Salvadoran investigative website '' El Faro'' revealed that Giammattei was accused of "financing his 019campaign with bribes from a construction company." The Guatemalan president is said to have negotiated with José Luis Benito, a minister in Jimmy Morales' government, 'a contribution of $2.6 million to his electoral campaign...In exchange for this money Giammattei promised the minister...to keep him in office for a year so that he could continue to implement a multi-million dollar bribery scheme in road construction and maintenance contracts."


Interior ministers

There have been five Interior ministers in the presidency of Giammattei: Edgar Godoy, Oliverio Garcia, Gendri Reyes, Napoleón Barrientos, and Byron Bor. Except the last, they all resigned.


End of presidency

A sharp increase in violent crime and a punishingly high cost of living made Alejandro Giammattei deeply unpopular. In January 2022, halfway through his term, Giammattei had a 27% approval rating according to a CID Gallup poll, one of the lowest among the continent's presidents. In 2023, only 2.9% of respondents rated the Giammattei administration as good. Emigration to the United States increased sharply under his presidency.


Post-presidency

On 17 January 2024, the U.S. State Department barred Giammattei from entering the United States, accusing him of “involvement in significant corruption” during his presidency, namely "accepting bribes in exchange for the performance of his public functions". On 2 April 2025, the
British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
barred Giammattei from entering the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and froze his assets, accusing him of "benefiting from corruption" during his mandate.


Political views

Giammattei vowed to bring back the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
and pledged to "crush violent gangs, fight poverty to stop migration and end 'disgusting' corruption." He is against
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
and
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
and supports using the military for civilian security. During his visit to Israel in December 2019, he pledged to have Lebanese
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
declared a "terrorist organization," declaring that "the friends of Israel are the friends of Guatemala, and the enemies of Israel are our enemies." A month earlier he had also pledged to align Guatemala's policy of
Israeli settlements Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Jewish identity or ethnicity, and hav ...
to that of the United States. In 2019, he called the Venezuelan government a "dictatorship" and said he wanted to maintain the same diplomatic line as his predecessor, Jimmy Morales, towards
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, a country with which Guatemala has severed diplomatic relations. During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, he became the first Latin American leader to visit Ukraine since 24 February, as well as in the last 12 years. Visiting towns such as Bucha, he called on the world community to "not observe passively." In November 2023, he expressed his unconditional support for Israel during the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
.


Personal life

Giammattei married Rosana Cáceres on 11 February 1989, and they have three children, including Marcela. Giammattei and Cáceres were separated by the time Giammattei launched his presidential campaign in 2019. As result of the divorce, his daughter Marcela serves as First Lady of Guatemala. He cites
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
as his most admired world figure. Giammattei has
multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...
and uses crutches in order to walk. Giammattei's paternal grandfather was
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, and Giammattei obtained Italian citizenship through jure sanguinis, in addition to his Guatemalan citizenship by birthright.


Honors

*Taiwan: Order of Brilliant Jade, Grand Cordon, awarded by the President of the Republic of China
Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; pinyin: ''Cài Yīngwén''; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the seventh president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party ...
on 20 April 2023


Notes


References


External links

* (in Spanish)
Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Giammattei, Alejandro 1956 births Living people Politicians from Guatemala City Presidents of Guatemala Vamos (Guatemala) politicians National Advancement Party politicians People with multiple sclerosis Guatemalan people of Italian descent Guatemalan Roman Catholics