Mario Sandoval Alarcón (May 18, 1923 – April 17, 2003) was a

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Biography

He is the founder in 1960 of the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional (MLN) which was a nacionalist anti-communist political party. In 1954, he helped support colonel Carlos Castillo's coup against

Jacobo Árbenz Juan Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán (; 14 September 191327 January 1971) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as the 25th President of Guatemala. He was Minister of National Defense from 1944 to 1950, and the second democratical ...

. He served as President of the Congress from 1970 to 1974, when he was sworn in as the Vice President. Sandoval served as

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

from 1 July 1974 to 1 July 1978 during the presidency of

Kjell Laugerud 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 ...

. During his time as vicepresident he helped president Kjell after the 1976 earthquake that affected a great part of the country. In 1982, he placed second in that year's

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

. He was unsuccessful again three years later, in 1985. Sandoval was a leader of the

World Anti-Communist League The World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD) is an international non-governmental organization of anti-communist politicians and groups. It was founded in 1952 as the World Anti-Communist League (WACL) under the initiative of Chiang Kai-sh ...

(WACL).

References

Presidents of the Congress of Guatemala Vice presidents of Guatemala People of the Guatemalan Civil War National Liberation Movement (Guatemala) politicians 1923 births 2003 deaths {{Guatemala-politician-stub