Roger Haroldo Rodas Melgar (29 May 1946 – 14 June 2020) was a Guatemalan economist, politician and diplomat.

Biography

He served as the foreign affairs minister in the cabinet of

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Álvaro Colom Álvaro Colom Caballeros (; born 15 June 1951) is a Guatemalan politician who was the President of Guatemala from 2008 to 2012, as well as leader of the social democracy, social-democratic National Unity of Hope (UNE). Early years Colom was bor ...

, from 14 January 2008 to 14 January 2012. He was the only minister in the Colom administration who served out the entire four-year term. He had previously served as vice-minister for foreign affairs from 1 January 1991 to 30 June 1992. Rodas studied economics at the

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC, ''University of San Carlos of Guatemala'') is the largest and oldest university of Guatemala; it is also the fourth founded in the Americas. Established in the Kingdom of Guatemala during the Spani ...

and a master's in international economics at the

Graduate Institute of International Studies Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumnus, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed high ...

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Switzerland. Prior to being appointed foreign minister, he had been the Secretary General of the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) since April 1995. He also held positions with the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Union of Banana Exporting Countries, the Organization of American States, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Rodas died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

on 14 June 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala The COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Guatemala in March 2020. Backgrou ...

. He was 74, sixteen days short of his 75th birthday.

Honors

Order of Brilliant Star Order of Brilliant Star () is a civilian order of the Republic of China (Taiwan) recognizing outstanding contributions to the development of the nation. The order is instituted in 1941 and can be awarded to both domestic and foreign nationals. ...

with Grand Cordon (Republic of China, 2008)

References

External links

Haroldo Rodas Melgar's CV
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala) 1946 births Foreign ministers of Guatemala 2020 deaths Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala {{Guatemala-politician-stub