Manuel Ricardo Villacorta Orantes (born 29 March 1959) is a Guatemalan politician, professor and writer. He served as Guatemala's ambassador to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

from 1999 to 2000, was also a presidential candidate in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, where he placed in seventh place with 5.2% of the vote.

Early and personal life

Villacorta was born on March 29, 1959 in Guatemala City in the bosom of a scholar family. His father Manuel José Villacorta Escobar was an economist, who served as a professor at the Faculty of Economics of the Universidad de San Carlos. His father also served as director of the National Agrarian Bank, Vice Minister and Minister of Economy in the governments of

Carlos Arana Osorio Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio (July 17, 1918 – December 6, 2003) was President of Guatemala from 1970 to 1974. His government enforced torture, disappearances and killings against political and military adversaries, as well as common criminals. ...

and

Kjell Laugerud García Kjell is a Scandinavian male given name. In Denmark, the cognate is Kjeld or Keld. The name comes from the Old Norse word ''kętill'', which means "kettle" and probably also "helmet" or perhaps "cauldron". Examples of old spellings or forms are ' ...

. Villacorta graduated with a degree in Political Science from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, later he studied Social Communication at

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and a Doctorate in Political Science and Sociology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca.

Political career

Villacorta was proclaimed presidential candidate by a party named

Winaq Winaq is a left-wing political party in Guatemala whose most notable member is Rigoberta Menchú, who is ethnically Kʼicheʼ. Its name comes from the Kʼicheʼean word for "people" or "humanity", "winaq". It is a party whose roots are in th ...

, founded by

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

laureate

Rigoberta Menchú Rigoberta Menchú Tum (; born 9 January 1959) is a K'iche' Guatemalan human rights activist, feminist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the rights of Guatemala's Indigenous peoples during and after t ...

. Liliana Hernández was named his candidate for Vice President. In June 2019, Villacorta was positioned in the polls with 1.2% in intention to vote, however, after the count in the general elections, he obtained 5.2% of the votes and he was placed in seventh place. Days after the election, Villacorta broke away from Winaq and announced that he would form a new progressive political party that would participate in the 2023 general elections.

References

1959 births Living people Guatemalan politicians Guatemalan diplomats Guatemalan journalists Male journalists Guatemalan writers Guatemalan sociologists Guatemalan academics People from Guatemala City Winaq politicians Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni University of Salamanca alumni Ambassadors of Guatemala to Israel {{Guatemala-politician-stub