Mario Taracena Díaz-Sol (born 6 May 1957) is a Guatemalan politician. 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 ...

of the

Congress of Guatemala The Congress of the Republic ( es, Congreso de la República) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. The Guatemalan Congress is made up of 160 Chamber of Deputies, deputies who are elected by univer ...

from January 2016 to January 2017. Taracena started his political career in 1984 and since then has served multiple times in the Congress, as well as a term in the Central American Parliament.

Early life

Taracena was born on 6 May 1957 in

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, ne ...

. He grew up in an economically well-off family. Both his father and grandfathers were involved in politics. His father was a founding member of the National Liberation Movement, as an opponent of

Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes General José Miguel Ramón Ydígoras Fuentes (17 October 1895 – 27 October 1982) was the conservative President of Guatemala from 1958 to March 1963. He was also the main challenger to Jacobo Árbenz during the 1950 presidential election. He ...

, he was exiled twice. Mario Taracena followed a part of his education at the and later obtained a degree at the Faculty of Economics of the

Rafael Landívar University Rafael Landívar University ''(Universidad Rafael Landívar)'' is a private Catholic coeducational higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Vista Hermosa III Guatemala. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1961. The main campus is i ...

Political career

Taracena served in the Constituent Assembly of Guatemala between 1984 and 1986 for the Unión del Centro Nacional (UCN). He had been one of the founders of the party in 1983. Taracena was member of the

for the UCN from 1986 to 1991, and once again from 1991 to 1993. He left the party after a conflict with

Jorge Carpio Nicolle Jorge Carpio Nicolle (October 24, 1932 – July 3, 1993) was a prominent Guatemalan politician and newspaper publisher. He was the founder of the Unión del Centro Nacional (National Centrist Union, or UCN) in 1984, and ran as the party's cand ...

. He was member of the Central American Parliament for the

National Advancement Party The National Advancement Party ( es, Partido de Avanzada Nacional) is a conservatism, conservative political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 1989. In the 1990 and 1995 elections its presidential candidate was Álvaro Arzú who won in 1995 ...

(PAN) between 1995 and 2000. Taracena was also one of the founders of the PAN in 1989. He left the PAN after a conflict with Rubén Darío Morales. In 2004 Taracena once again obtained a domestic political office when he became member of the Congress for the

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-democratic and social-christian party. It is the largest political party in Guatemal ...

(UNE). He completed his first term for the party in 2008 and a second in 2012. Taracena was reelected in the

2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...

, obtaining a seat for the National List. On 14 January 2016 Taracena was elected

of the Congress, receiving 120 out of 157 votes. He succeeded

Luis Rabbé Luis Armando Rabbé Tejada (born 26 May 1956) is a Guatemalan politician and media entrepreneur. He was President of the Congress of Guatemala between 14 January 2015 and 14 January 2016. Rabbé was elected to the Congress of Guatemala in the 201 ...

. Shortly after taking office Taracena stated that his main goal was to obtain reforms to the ''Ley Orgánica del Organismo Legislativo'', so that public confidence in the Congress would be raised after having been lowered due to power abuse and corruption. He was succeeded by

Óscar Chinchilla Óscar Stuardo Chinchilla Guzmán (born 21 October 1969) is a Guatemalan politician. He was President of the Congress of Guatemala between 14 January 2017 and 14 January 2018. Chinchilla is a member and one of the founders of Commitment, Renew ...

as President of the Congress on 14 January 2017.

Personal life

Taracena is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He is married and has three daughters and one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taracena, Mario 1957 births Living people Members of the Congress of Guatemala National Advancement Party politicians National Unity of Hope politicians Politicians from Guatemala City Guatemalan Roman Catholics Presidents of the Congress of Guatemala Rafael Landívar University alumni