Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre

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. He was elected as vice president by Congress on May 14, 2015, after his predecessor, Roxana Baldetti, resigned amid allegations of corruption. Before becoming vice president, he served as a constitutional judge, congressional deputy, ambassador to the United Nations, and political leader, including a failed presidential bid in 1982. He was Minister of Education from 1970 to 1974 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. History Born in Guatemala City, Maldonado graduated from San Carlos University with a degree in law. Since the 1960s, he was a member of the far-right National Liberation Movement political party (Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional or MLN), alleged to have started the use of death squads against communists. He was also Minister of Education under the military regime of Arana Osorio (1970–1974) and defended Guatemala before the United Nations when the international community isolated the military regime of Lucas García (1978–1982) for its gross human rights violations.