HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Zury Mayté Ríos Sosa (born 24 January 1968) 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 former
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
. She is the daughter of the late general, and
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 ...
Efraín Ríos Montt José Efraín Ríos Montt (; 16 June 1926 – 1 April 2018) was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as ''de facto'' President of Guatemala from 1982 to 1983. His brief tenure as chief executive was one of the blo ...
. She began her political career with her father, whom she defended against accusations of genocide against him. She served four terms in
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, from 1995 to 2012, where she was chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. She also served on the Steering Committee of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...
(IPU) and was the chair of the IPU's Latin American Group where she was elected unanimously by parliamentarians from the Latin American nations. Zury was the presidential candidate for the party
VIVA Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Energy, an Australian petroleum company * Viva Entertainment, a Philippine media company * Viva Films, a Philippine film company ...
at 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 ...
.


Family and education

Zury Ríos Sosa was born in January 1968, the third child of José Efraín Ríos Montt and María Teresa Sosa Ávila. Ríos Sosa's father, a former Guatemalan army general and illegitimate
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 ...
, was found guilty of genocide against the Ixil Maya and crimes against humanity. Her brothers, Enrique and Homero, both followed their father's military footsteps and enlisted in the
armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...
: Homero, a military doctor, was killed by guerrillas in 1984, while rescuing wounded army soldiers and attempting to put them aboard an army helicopter that was brought down by rebel weapons fire in
El Petén EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...
; Enrique was chief of the Army General Staff before resigning his commission in September 2003 when charged with having embezzled Q30 million (
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
3.25m/
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
3.75m). When she was 10 years old, her father renounced
Catholicism 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 ...
and became an ordained minister in a Guatemalan offshoot of the Gospel Outreach Church. Zury Ríos studied at schools in Guatemala and Spain, where her father was assigned as military attaché following the 1974 presidential election, a process tainted by accusations of electoral fraud in which he had been a candidate. She graduated
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
in political and social science from
Francisco Marroquín University Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...
. Her first job (1988–1989) was as a lecturer in social and economic studies at the Escuela Cristiana Verbo in Guatemala City and she has also worked as a primary school teacher. She has been married four times. Prior to her current union, she was married to Jeovanny Chávez, deputy José García Bravatti, and businessman Roberto López Villatoro. During her marriage to López Villatoro, she was also known as Ríos de López. On 20 November 2004, at a ceremony held in General Ríos Montt's compound near
Antigua Guatemala Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the Guatemalan Highlands, central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque- ...
, and with the general presiding at the ceremony, she married
U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
Jerry Weller ( R-
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
). Following the wedding, she stated that although she planned to live in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
with her husband, she would continue serving in the Guatemalan legislature; a lawyer for Weller told the U.S.
House Ethics Committee The U.S. House Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Before the 112th Congress, it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. ...
that she did not plan on becoming a U.S. citizen. In March 2006 the Wellers announced that she was pregnant, and a daughter, Marizú Catherine, was born on 17 August 2006 in a Guatemala City hospital. The child holds dual U.S. and Guatemalan nationality.


Political career

In 1989, Zury Ríos joined the public relations department of the newly-created
Guatemalan Republican Front The Institutional Republican Party (, PRI), until 2013 known as the Guatemalan Republican Front (''Frente Republicano Guatemalteco'', FRG), was a right-wing to far-right political party in Guatemala. History It was created in 1989 by former pres ...
(FRG) in preparation for the 1990 presidential election. In that election, the FRG won 10 seats in Congress. However, her father was barred from running for president due to a provision in the constitution barring coup leaders from running. Following the election, Zury Ríos worked as an administrative assistant to the FRG congressional bloc and as private secretary to the Speaker of Congress. In 1996 she was elected to Congress as a national list deputy. In 1998 she was elected to the FRG's executive committee and political council. In 1999 she was re-elected to Congress, again from her party's national list. During the 2000–04 legislative session, she served as one of the two deputy speakers and on the congressional foreign relations committee. She was elected to a third term in the 2003 general election, receiving the second highest number of votes on the national electoral lists. During the 2004–08 legislature, she served as vice chair of the foreign relations committee and on the health, sport, social welfare, and ethics committees. Much of her congressional work has focused on
reproductive health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's Human reproductive system, reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Se ...
issues, the
HIV-AIDS The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a preventable disease. It can ...
situation, and combating
tobacco use Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus ''Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the chi ...
; some of her supporters see her as a potential future foreign minister or even president of the Republic. In 2003, prior to the election, Zury Ríos was accused of being one of the organizers of ''
jueves negro Black Thursday () was a series of violent political demonstrations in Guatemala City, Guatemala during the 2003 Guatemalan general election. Armed supporters of the Guatemalan Republican Front and former President Efraín Ríos Montt rioted in p ...
'' ("Black Thursday"). In mid-2003, the FRG was again trying to get General Ríos Montt on to the presidential ticket by arguing that applying the constitutional ban preventing former coup leaders from seeking the presidency should not apply to him in accordance with the principle of non-retroactive application of the law. His 1982
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
had preceded the enactment of the 1985 Constitution. After a series of court decisions ruling alternately that he could or could not run, culminating with a 21 July 2003 ruling by the Supreme Court suspending his candidacy, on Thursday, 24 July, FRG officials and supporters led a mass demonstration 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 ...
to protest his disqualification. The demonstration degenerated into a bloody riot that left one man dead (journalist
Héctor Fernando Ramírez Héctor Fernando Ramírez, better known as Reportero X (Reporter X) died on July 24, 2003, of a heart attack in Guatemala City while being chased by a mob in what is referred to as ''jueves negro'' (Black Thursday). He was 61 years old. He had start ...
) but was perceived as having been successful in forcing the decision to be made to put Ríos Montt's name on the presidential ballot since a week later, the
Constitutional Court of Guatemala The Constitutional Court of Guatemala is the highest court for constitutional law in the Republic of Guatemala. It is tasked with preserving the constitutional order by ruling on questions of the constitutionality of laws or state actions. The C ...
overturned the Supreme Court's ban. Although General Ríos Montt ultimately lost the November 2003 election, he enjoyed his daughter's full support. Zury Ríos accompanied her father on his campaign trail, generally introducing him, in highly favorable terms, before he addressed his rallies. She was quoted in the press as saying, "my father is my inspiration." She ran for president in 2015, finishing fifth with 5.9% of the vote. Her candidacy for the 2019 presidential election was rejected due to a ban, since repealed, on former dictators and their close relatives running for the presidency. She competed at the presidential elections again in 2023, as one of the favourites for the election due to her status as an opposition figure to the highly unpopular President
Alejandro Giammattei Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla (; born 9 March 1956) is a Guatemalan politician who was the 51st president of Guatemala from 2020 to 2024. He is a former director of the Guatemalan penitentiary system and participated in Guatemala's presid ...
, elected in 2019. However, despite initially polling well, leading most opinion polls with 20-25% of responses until April 2023, she ended up in sixth place with an underwhelming 8.69% of the votes.


Political positions

Ríos claims her father's political legacy. She is popular with the
conservative evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian go ...
electorate and has the support of the
army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
and
big business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...
. She promises a particularly aggressive security policy against gangs and social organisations involved in conflicts with landowners. She also advocates the implementation of policies expected by conservative evangelicals on issues such as abortion. She defended the dissolution of 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), which was investigating corruption in the political class.


References


External links


Zury Ríos Montt's personal web pageZury Ríos Montt's congressional web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rios, Zury 1968 births Living people Guatemalan Pentecostals Members of the Congress of Guatemala Institutional Republican Party politicians Children of presidents of Guatemala 20th-century Guatemalan women politicians 20th-century Guatemalan politicians 21st-century Guatemalan women politicians 21st-century Guatemalan politicians