Ricardo Quiñónez Lemus (; born 5 January 1965) is a Guatemalan politician who has been serving as mayor of
Guatemala City since 30 April 2018, after the death of
Álvaro Arzú. Previously he served as first-
councilor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
of the municipality from 2008 until 2018.
Early life and education
Ricardo Quiñónez is son of María Magdalena Lemus Aguilar and the lawyer Ricardo Alfonso Quiñónez Sandoval, who was a representative of Pan American airlines. He has three siblings, Alfonso José, María Gabriela del Rosario, and Carmen Lucía. His grandfather and namesake was Interior and Foreign Minister during the government of
Carlos Castillo Armas
Carlos Castillo Armas (; 4 November 191426 July 1957) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who was the 28th president of Guatemala, serving from 1954 to 1957 after taking power in a coup d'état. A member of the right-wing Nation ...
. His family and connections have been historically right wing.
Quiñónez has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (''
Tecnológico de Monterrey
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) ( en, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education), also known as Tecnológico de Monterrey or just Tec, is a secular and coeducational private university based in ...
''—TEC) in Mexico.
He obtained a Business Administration Master Degree in Marketing from the
University of Bridgeport.
Career
Quiñónez started his career as an executive in the airlines Aviateca and TACA in 1990. He has been a technology and consultancy
entrepreneur and a member of the board of directors of the Guatemalan Managers Association. He participated in different capacities in various organizations, like the University del Itsmo, the Integral Development Foundation and the Rotary Club.
During Alvaro Arzú's presidency, he was in charge of the Presidential Commission for the National Geographic Information System, where he led the transition of the National Geographic Institute from Army control to civilian authorities.
He designed the management strategy of the external resources that supported the peace process
and was coordinator of consultive groups for its consolidation. In addition, he was secretary of the cabinet in its reconstruction efforts of the country after tropical storm Mitch
and was general secretary of economic planning until the end of the presidential term in 2000.
Quiñónez founded the
Unionist Party (). In the
2003 general election, he was elected first-
syndic
Syndic (Late Latin: '; Greek: ' – one who helps in a court of justice, an advocate, representative) is a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a universi ...
of the
Municipality of Guatemala and in the two subsequent elections, first-councillor. Due to the death of Álvaro Arzú, he replaced him as mayor on 30 April 2018
and won the
elections of 16 June 2019 for said office for the period 2020-2024.
Personal life
Ricardo Quiñonez married Dominique Denise Marie Wilson Arzú, known as Mercedes and as a figure in the Opus Dei movement. She is daughter of María Mercedes Arzú Irigoyen—sister of former president Alvaro Arzú— and Henry Hugh Wilson, a British oil consultant.
Quiñónez and his wife have four children.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiñonez Lemus, Ricardo
Living people
1965 births
Mayors of Guatemala City
Unionist Party (Guatemala) politicians
Politicians from Guatemala City
Arzú family