Mario Taracena Díaz-Sol (born 6 May 1957) is a Guatemalan politician. He was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Congress of Guatemala The Congress of the Republic () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Guatemala. The Guatemalan Congress is made up of 160 deputies who are elected by direct universal suffrage to serve four-year terms. The electoral system is cl ...

from January 2016 to January 2017. Taracena started his political career in 1984 and since then has served multiple times in the Congress, as well as a term in the

Central American Parliament The Central American Parliament (), also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City. History The PARLACEN's origins date b ...

Early life

Taracena was born on 6 May 1957 in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

. He grew up in an economically well-off family. Both his father and grandfathers were involved in politics. His father was a founding member of the National Liberation Movement, as an opponent of

Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes José Miguel Ramón Ydígoras Fuentes (17 October 1895 – 27 October 1982) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as the 32nd president of Guatemala from 1958 to March 1963. He was also the main challenger to Jacobo Árben ...

, he was exiled twice. Mario Taracena followed a part of his education at the and later obtained a degree at the Faculty of Economics of the

Rafael Landívar University Rafael Landívar University ''(Universidad Rafael Landívar)'' is a private Catholic coeducational higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Vista Hermosa III Guatemala. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1961. The main campus is ...

Political career

Taracena served in the Constituent Assembly of Guatemala between 1984 and 1986 for the Unión del Centro Nacional (UCN). He had been one of the founders of the party in 1983. Taracena was member of the

for the UCN from 1986 to 1991, and once again from 1991 to 1993. He left the party after a conflict with Jorge Carpio Nicolle. He was member of the

for the National Advancement Party (PAN) between 1995 and 2000. Taracena was also one of the founders of the PAN in 1989. He left the PAN after a conflict with Rubén Darío Morales. In 2004 Taracena once again obtained a domestic political office when he became member of the Congress for the

National Unity of Hope The National Unity of Hope (, UNE) is a populist political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 2002 and defined itself as a social-democratic and Christian socialism, social-Christian party, but since transformed and is now described as a right- ...

(UNE). He completed his first term for the party in 2008 and a second in 2012. Taracena was reelected in the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

, obtaining a seat for the National List. On 14 January 2016 Taracena was elected

of the Congress, receiving 120 out of 157 votes. He succeeded Luis Rabbé. Shortly after taking office Taracena stated that his main goal was to obtain reforms to the ''Ley Orgánica del Organismo Legislativo'', so that public confidence in the Congress would be raised after having been lowered due to power abuse and corruption. He was succeeded by

Óscar Chinchilla Óscar Stuardo Chinchilla Guzmán (born 21 October 1969) is a Guatemalan politician who served as President of the Congress of Guatemala between January 14, 2017 and January 14, 2018. Chinchilla is a member and one of the founders of Commitmen ...

as President of the Congress on 14 January 2017.

Personal life

Taracena is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He is married and has three daughters and one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taracena, Mario 1957 births Living people Members of the Congress of Guatemala National Advancement Party politicians National Unity of Hope politicians Politicians from Guatemala City Guatemalan Roman Catholics Presidents of the Congress of Guatemala Rafael Landívar University alumni