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Jorge Serrano Elías | |
|---|---|
.png) Official portrait, 1991 | |
| 41st President of Guatemala | |
| In office January 14, 1991 – June 1, 1993 | |
| Vice President | Gustavo Adolfo Espina Salguero |
| Preceded by | Vinicio Cerezo |
| Succeeded by | Gustavo Adolfo Espina Salguero |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1945-04-26)26 April 1945 (age 80) |
| Party | Solidarity Action Movement |
| Spouse | Magda Bianchi de Serrano |
| Children | 5 |
Jorge Antonio Serrano Elías (born April 26, 1945) is a Guatemalanindustrial engineer and politician who served as the 41stpresident of Guatemala from January 14, 1991 to June 1, 1993. He attempted a self-coup in May 1993 to stay longer in power.[1]
Serrano was born on 26 April 1945 inGuatemala City as the son of Jorge Adán Serrano and Rosa Elías, who was ofLebanese descent. After attending Liceo Guatemala he graduated from theUniversity of San Carlos with a degree inindustrial engineering. Then, attendedStanford University inCalifornia, U.S., where he studiedeconomic growth and gained adoctorate ineducation andscience. He then returned to Guatemala to become acivil servant. In 1976, he collaborated with variousAmericanProtestantchurches to help the population recover from thedevastating earthquake that had afflicted the country. He then published a document describing the wretched conditions under which theindigenous people lived, which resulted in him receiving threats. He went into exile in the U.S., only returning in 1982 to work in the government of fellowevangelical GeneralEfraín Ríos Montt as Vice President of the Advisory Board to the government.[2]
In 1985, Serrano stood as presidential candidate for theDemocratic Party of National Co-operation (PDCN) and the Revolutionary Party (PR), coming third with 12.6% of the vote. In September 1987, as the political party's representative, he became one of the four members of the National Reconciliation Commission (CNR).
Serrano became the presidential candidate for theSolidarity Action Movement (MAS) in the 1990 presidential elections. He lost the first round on November 11 with 24.1% of the vote but won the second round againstJorge Carpio on January 6, 1991 with 68.1%. Carpio unsuccessfully tried to use Serrano's fundamentalist beliefs against him as a campaign issue.
On January 14, Serrano replacedVinicio Cerezo asPresident of Guatemala. He was the second non-Catholic to gain power in Guatemala after Ríos Montt. The transfer of power marked the first time in decades that an incumbent president had peacefully surrendered power to an elected opposition victor. As his party gained only 18 of 116 seats in Congress, Serrano entered into a tenuous alliance with the Christian Democrats and Carpio's National Union of the Center (UCN).[3]
The Serrano administration's record was mixed. It succeeded in consolidatingcivilian control over the army, replacing several senior officers, and persuading the military to participate in peace talks with the URNG. He took the politically unpopular step of recognizing the sovereignty ofBelize. The Serrano administration reversed the economic slide it inherited, reducing inflation and boosting real growth.[4]
On May 25, 1993, Serrano sparked the1993 Guatemalan constitutional crisis when he illegally suspended theconstitution, dissolvedCongress and theSupreme Court, imposedcensorship, and tried to restrict civil freedoms, allegedly to fight corruption. The attemptedself-coup was similar to the onePeru'sAlberto Fujimoricarried out. However, Serrano's action met with strong protests by most elements of Guatemalan society, at the forefront of which was theSiglo Veintiuno newspaper under the leadership ofJosé Rubén Zamora. This was combined with international pressure and the army's enforcement of the decisions of theConstitutional Court, which ruled against the attempted takeover. In the face of this pressure, Serrano resigned as president on June 1 and fled the country. He was replaced on an interim basis by his vice president,Gustavo Adolfo Espina Salguero. However, Espina was also involved in Serrano's self-coup, and Congress replaced him with Human Rights OmbudsmanRamiro de León Carpio.
Serrano now resides inPanama with his wife, Magda Bianchi de Serrano. He has a set of twin sons, a son named Juan Pablo Serrano, and two daughters. He has three sisters, one of whom is Olga Stella Serrano de Salazar, who resides inGuatemala City with her husband, Rafael Salazar Farfan. The Guatemalan government has made numerous unsuccessful attempts to have himextradited on corruption charges. Jorge Serrano is involved in real estate as a developer and investor in Panama and theU.S. state ofFlorida.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of Guatemala January 14, 1991–June 1, 1993 | Succeeded by |
| Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1839); Supreme Chiefs of State | direct central rule, 1823–24 direct central rule, 1826–27 |  |
|---|---|---|
| Republic of Guatemala (since 1839); Presidents | ||
* interim;† military | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
