Carlos Raúl Morales Moscoso (born 7 October 1970) is a

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 b ...

n diplomat and former government official who served as Guatemala's

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from September 2014 to August 2017 under the governments of

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 ...

Alejandro Maldonado Alejandro Baltazar Maldonado Aguirre (born January 6, 1936) is a Guatemalan statesman who served as the acting president of Guatemala following the Congress' acceptance of the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina on September 3, 2015. ...

and

Otto Pérez Molina Otto Fernando Pérez Molina (born December 1, 1950) is a Guatemalan politician and retired general who served as the 48th president of Guatemala from 2012 to 2015. Standing as the Patriotic Party (''Partido Patriota'') candidate, he lost the ...

Career

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

Due to the foreign policy of Guatemala towards

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

, he left office in November 2011, so he could continue serving as the executive secretary of the Commission of Belize of Guatemala, until this unit was shut down by president Pérez Molina in February 2012. After that, he assumed the office of the vice minister again, and held the position until his nomination as minister. During his time in office, he handled the bilateral and multilateral agenda, among other tasks.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Morales was sworn by President

as the Foreign Affairs Minister on 18 September 2014. He replaced Fernando Carrera, who was designated as the Ambassador to the United Nations. Morales was the third foreign affairs minister under Perez Molina's administration. Following the political turmoils in 2015, President Pérez Molina resigned, and his vice president,

, took his place to lead the government until the end of the presidential period, due on January, 16th, 2016. Under the new administration, the cabinet was summoned for full review. After the first week of the transition government, minister Morales was confirmed to remain in office. And on 16 January 2016, minister Morales was confirmed to continue in his post under the new administration of president

. This made Carlos Raul Morales the first foreign affairs minister to serve three presidents. In August, 2017, a new political crisis emerged, as the rumors that president Morales had the intentions to remove commissioner Iván Velásquez from the

International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (, CICIG) was an international body charged with investigating and prosecuting serious crime in Guatemala. On January 7, 2019, the agreement between the United Nations and Guatemala was te ...

(CICIG). On such a short notice, a presidential trip to the headquarters of the UN took place on 25 August 2017. The topics in the agenda remained unknown until a meeting with

Secretary-General of the UN The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secre ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

, took place on the same day. The Government of Guatemala did not confirm nor denied the fact that the removal of Iván Velásquez had taken place during the meeting. On 27 August, president Morales issued an executive order declaring commissioner Iván Velásquez "non grato", and expelled him from the country. As Minister Morales refused to sign the executive order, he was removed from office along with one of his vice ministers,

Carlos Ramiro Martínez Carlos Ramiro Martínez Alvarado (born 13 September 1958) is a Guatemalan diplomat serving as the minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala since 15 January 2024. He previously served as vice minister of foreign affairs under the governments of A ...

. In the afternoon, news was known of the resignation of another vice minister of foreign affairs, Anamaría Diéguez.

Personal life

Morales was born to José Guillermo Morales Silva and Dora Amelia Moscoso in

Chiquimula Chiquimula is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Chiquimula and the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is located some 174 km from Guatemala City and within Guatemala known as "La p ...

, although he grew up in the town of Morales in

Izabal Department Izabal () is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. Its coastal areas form part of the homeland of the Garifuna people. Izabal is bordered to the north by Belize, to the northeast by the Gulf of Honduras, to the east by Honduras, and by th ...

. He frequently visits his hometown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Carlos Raul 1970 births Living people Ministers of foreign affairs of Guatemala People from Chiquimula Department People from Izabal Department

Career

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Personal life

See also

References