Roxana Baldetti

Ingrid Roxana Baldetti Elías (born May 13, 1962) was the first female Vice President of Guatemala from 2012 until her resignation amid a corruption scandal in 2015.[2][3][4][1]

Roxana Baldetti
13th Vice President of Guatemala
In office January 14, 2012 – May 9, 2015[1]
President	Otto Pérez Molina
Preceded by	Rafael Espada
Succeeded by	Alejandro Maldonado
Deputy by National List of the Congress of Guatemala
In office January 14, 2008 – March 14, 2011
2nd General Secretary of the Patriotic Party
In office January 20, 2009 – September 14, 2014
Preceded by	Otto Pérez Molina
Succeeded by	Valentín Gramajo
Personal details
Born	Ingrid Roxana Baldetti Elías May 13, 1962 Guatemala City,  Guatemala
Nationality	Guatemalan
Political party	Patriotic Party
Spouse(s)	Mariano Paz
Children	Luis Pedro Paz Baldetti Mario Paz Baldetti
Residence	Guatemala City
Alma mater	Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala

Early life

Baldetti was born in Guatemala City. She comes from a conservative, Catholic family. Her parents were Alejandro Baldetti and Gladys Elías de Baldetti. She attended primary school in the Colegio Monte Carmelo, graduating as a primary education teacher in El Sagrado Corazón de Jesús at the Historic Center of Guatemala. She obtained a bachelor's degree in Journalism at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala.

Career

Previously an elementary school substitute teacher, Baldetti started in journalism on the television news program Aquí el Mundo. She was co-founder of the news program TV Noticias. She worked at Univisión as a correspondent from Guatemala for the show Primer Impacto.

She worked in favor of women for the United Nations at a national level, including conferences within the Republic in partnership with Kellogg's Central America. She was founder of a beauty products company, also she founded a spa and hair salon chain.

Political career

In the 1990s, she was designated as the Subsecretary of Public Relations for the Presidency of the Republic. In 2001, she helped found the Patriot Party alongside Otto Pérez Molina. She was elected to Congress in 2004, she held the position of national-list congressional deputy for the Patriot Party. However, she presented her resignation to the Congress president before August 15, 2011, as she was going to participate as the vice presidential candidate for the same party, as Pérez Molina's running-mate.[5] and she announced the elections day that she will retake her position as deputy. She has been the General Secretary of the Patriotic Party since 2009.[6]

Personal life

In 1987 she married Mariano Paz, and they have two children, Luis Pedro and Mario.[7]

Unexplained wealth

In 2013, Guatemalan newspaper El Periódico published details of Baldetti's purchases of multimillion-dollar homes and other luxury goods with unexplained wealth.[8] Baldetti owns five properties and a helicopter worth over US$13 million, which could not be accounted for by her or her husband's income.[9]

In response to the investigation into unexplained wealth, a Guatemalan judge initiated legal proceedings against the editor of El Periódico, José Rubén Zamora. The Inter American Press Association subsequently denounced the judicial action as a form of censorship.[10][11]

Resignation, arrest, and sentence

Baldetti resigned from her post as Vice President on May 8, 2015, after a UN anti-corruption investigation arrested 24 individuals, including her personal secretary Juan Carlos Monzón Rojas, for involvement in an import bribery scheme known as La Línea (the Line) in which officials received bribes to reduce duties paid by importers.[12] Baldetti was detained on fraud charges on August 21, 2015, while at the hospital.[13][14][15] Reportedly, wiretaps of those implicated in the scandals appears to refer to her involvement with references to "the R", "the No.2" and "the lady." Her arrest was followed by allegations by prosecutor Thelma Aldana against President Molina, and protests calling for his resignation.[16]

On October 27, 2017,[17] Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez of Guatemala City ordered Baldetti, Perez, and another 26 people, including former senior officials from Guatemala's customs duty system, to face trial on charges related to bribes channeled to officials helping businesses evade customs duties.[18]

On October 9, 2018, Baldetti was sentenced to ​15 ¹⁄₂ years in prison for fraud and other charges related to the issuance of government contracts to clean Lake Amatitlan.[19] Additionally, she faces drug trafficking charges in the United States.[20]

References

1. "¡Ingrid Roxana Baldetti Elías renuncia de la vicepresidencia!". El Periodico. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
2. "La victoria es para Otto Pérez y Roxana Baldetti nuevas autoridades". Retrieved 10 October 2018.
3. Últimas Noticias Archived 2014-01-16 at the Wayback Machine Tribunal Supremo Electoral, accessed 17 January 2012 (Spanish)
4. Baldetti, First Woman to Be Vice President in Guatemala Prensa Latina News Agency, 13 January 2012
5. Roxana Baldetti renuncia a su curul para participar en elecciones Archived 2011-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
6. The Road to Victory for Otto Pérez Molina, Guatemala's President-Elect Americas Quarterly, 9 November 2011
7. "Biografía de Roxana Baldetti". Retrieved 10 October 2018.
8. Zamora, José Rubén (April 8, 2013). "A fairy tale without a happy ending" (PDF). El Periódico. pp. 6–9. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 4, 2014. Retrieved Oct 9, 2018.
9. Vega, P.; C. Quintela (October 1, 2013). "Roxana Baldetti guarda silencio sobre declaración de probidad". El Periódico (in Spanish). Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
10. "Court order in Guatemala bans journalist from approaching vice president". IFEX. January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
11. "Mission to Guatemala will investigate senior officials' complaints with editor". IFEX. January 14, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
12. Malkin, Elisabeth (May 10, 2015). "Roxana Baldetti's Resignation as Vice President Shadows Guatemala Politics". New York Times. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
13. "Guatemala: ex-Vice-President Baldetti held on fraud charges". BBC News. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
14. "Guatemala prosecutors seek to impeach president after ex-VP's arrest". Reuters. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
15. Michael D McDonald (21 August 2015). "Ex-Guatemala Vice President Baldetti Arrested in Tax Fraud Probe". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
16. "Guatemala: ex-Vice-President Baldetti held on fraud charges". BBC. August 21, 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
17. News, ABC. "International News: Latest Headlines, Video and Photographs from Around the World -- People, Places, Crisis, Conflict, Culture, Change, Analysis and Trends". ABC News. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
18. "Former Guatemala leader to face trial". 28 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018 – via www.bbc.com.
19. "Ex-Guatemala vice president sentenced to 15-1/2 years in prison". Reuters. October 9, 2018.
20. World Digest (October 10, 2018). "Guatemalan ex-vice president sentenced in graft case". Washington Post.

External links

• Official website in Spanish.
• Roxana Baldetti at the Patriotic Party website in Spanish.