Luis Armando Rabbé Tejada (born 26 May 1956) is a Guatemalan politician and media entrepreneur. He was

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 ful ...

of the

Congress of Guatemala The Congress of the Republic ( es, Congreso de la República) is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Guatemala. The Guatemalan Congress is made up of 160 deputies who are elected by direct universal suffrage to serve four-year terms. ...

between 14 January 2015 and 14 January 2016. Rabbé was elected to the Congress of Guatemala in the 2011 elections for the National List under the banner of

National Change Union The National Change Union ( es, Unión del Cambio Nacional), sometimes translated as the Union of National Change, was a national liberal political party in Guatemala. History In the legislative elections held on 9 September 2007, the party s ...

. Three months after being installed he became an independent member. In the 2015 general election Rabbé ran once more for the National List, this time as the number two of the

Renewed Democratic Liberty Renewed Democratic Liberty ( es, Libertad Democrática Renovada, ''LIDER'', sometimes also translated as Democratic Freedom Revival or Renewed Democratic Liberation) was a centre-right political party in Guatemala. It was founded as a parliamenta ...

(LIDER). As member of the Guatemalan Republic Front (FRG) Rabbé unsuccessfully ran for the office of mayor of

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...

in 1999. He subsequently served as Minister of Communications in the government of

Alfonso Portillo Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera (born 24 September 1951) is a Guatemalan politician who served as President of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004. He took office on 14 January 2000, representing the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), the party then ...

between 2000 and 2001. In the

2007 presidential election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

Rabbé was an unsuccessful candidate for the FRG.

Career and media

Rabbé was born on 26 May 1956. Rabbé had a career in media. He was president of , director of Radio Sonaro and later of Noti 7. Rabbé has also been an investor and director of the magazine Proceso.

Political career

In 1999 Rabbé started his political career. In the 1999 general elections he ran for the position of mayor of

for the Guatemalan Republic Front (FRG). He lost against

Fritz García Gallont Fritz García Gallont (born 9 August 1955) is a Guatemalan politician. He is a member of the Unionist Party. He served as Minister of Communications under President Álvaro Arzú.Wayne Leighton, Carlos Sabino, ''Privatization of Telecommunication ...

. In the same 1999 general elections

was elected president. Rabbé served in his government as Minister of Communication between January 2000 and June 2001. Rabbé was a presidential candidate for the FRG in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

, he obtained 7,29% of the vote in the first round and was eliminated from the race. The contacts Rabbé build up during his time as Minister gave him the opportunity to successfully run for

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 a ...

in the 2011 elections under the banner of

Mario Estrada is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

. Estrada had also served in the government of Portillo. Three months after being installed as Deputy Rabbé resigned from the National Change Union and became an independent member of Congress. He is a Deputy for the National List. Rabbé ran for the office of

of the Congress in 2013, but saw his attempt fail due to lack of support of Roberto Alejos and his party Todos. On 30 October 2014 was elected as President of the Congress, he was elected at the same time as the other members of the governing council. The group received 85 votes in favor and took office on 14 January 2015. Large parts of the opposition were absent during the vote. The group received support from the

Patriotic Party , colorcode = #E4433E , leader1_title = Leaders , leader1_name = Ignacy PotockiAdam Kazimierz Czartoryski Stanisław Małachowski , foundation = , dissolution = , headquarters = Kraków , ideology = Pro-ReformConstitution ...

and

National Unity of Hope The National Unity of Hope ( es, Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza, UNE) is a political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 2002 and defines itself as a Social democracy, social-democratic and Christian socialism, social-christian party. It is the ...

. As President, Rabbé succeeded Arístides Crespo, who was elected first vice-president. In the 2015 general election Rabbé ran once more for the National List, this time as the number two of the

(LIDER) list. Rabbé's term as President of the Congress ended on 14 January 2016, he was succeeded by

Mario Taracena Mario Taracena Díaz-Sol (born 6 May 1957) is a Guatemalan politician. He was President of the Congress of Guatemala from January 2016 to January 2017. Taracena started his political career in 1984 and since then has served multiple times in the ...

. In April 2016 Rabbé switched parties to Alianza Ciudadana, becoming the last deputy to be allowed to do so in the term of Congress. In 2016 Rabbé became target of investigation in the ''plazas fantasmas'' scandal involving members of Congress. The investigation was led by the public prosecution service and the Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala. Rabbé and Arístides Crespo were seen as leaders of a group of seven deputies involved in abuse of power, misuse of state money and illegally appointing people to positions in government. Rabbé claimed immunity on charges against him. The however lifted his immunity in August 2016. In August Rabbé wrote a letter to Congress President

asking him to allow him to be absent from the Congress for a one-month period. He stated to wish to have some personal meetings abroad in relation to the charges against him. Rabbé meanwhile flew to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. On 5 September an arrest warrant for Rabbé was made public. On 22 September Rabbé lost his seat in the Congress and was temporarily replaced by Fernando García Gudiel.

Personal life

Rabbé's brother

Alfredo Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: * Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda F ...

is a politician as well. Like his brother he was elected to Congress in 2011 for the National Change Union and left the party at the same time to continue as independent. Luis Rabbé is brother-in-law to Mexican media entrepreneur

Remigio Ángel González Remigio Ángel González is a Mexican-born owner of the Latin American media network Albavisión. He has lived in Miami since 1987. The network (previously named Televideo Services) is named for his wife Alba Elvira Lorenzana, who is from Guatemala ...

. González donated $2.6 million to the 1999 Presidential campaign of Alfonso Portillo. After becoming President, Portillo named Rabbé Minister of Communication.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabbe, Luis 1956 births Living people Government ministers of Guatemala Guatemalan mass media people Institutional Republican Party politicians Independent politicians in Guatemala Members of the Congress of Guatemala National Change Union politicians Presidents of the Congress of Guatemala Renewed Democratic Liberty politicians