Roberto Arzú García-Granados (born 15 May 1970) is a Guatemalan

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 ...

and

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

Biography

Arzú is the firstborn of the former

President of Guatemala The president of Guatemala ( es, Presidente de Guatemala), officially known as the President of the Republic of Guatemala ( es, Presidente de la República de Guatemala), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a s ...

and mayor of Guatemala City Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen. He is an entrepreneur whose business interests range from pharmaceuticals to restaurants and football pitches. In the late 1990s, Arzú served as chairman of

Comunicaciones F.C. Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, are a football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. The most popular and successful footba ...

leaving office in the late 2000s.

Political career

Arzú began his political career in the Youth League of 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 ...

. In 2017, he was appointed Commercial Ambassador to South America by President

Jimmy Morales Jimmy Morales (born James Ernesto Morales Cabrera, ; 18 March 1969) is a Guatemalan politician, actor and comedian. From 2016 to 2020, he served as the 50th president of Guatemala. Early and personal life Morales was born in Guatemala City ...

, leaving office in 2018. He opposed the anti-corruption commission CICIG ( International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala). He ran as a presidential candidate in the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in coun ...

under the

- founded by his father - and Podemos coalition using

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

rhetoric, using the motto "Make Guatemala Great" inspired by the campaign slogan of American

President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants i ...

". Arzú obtained the fifth place in the elections with 5.3%. He claims not to belong to any ideological current but is considered

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. He insists in particular on security issues, proposing to bring the army to the streets, to recruit more police officers, to reinstate the death penalty and to ask for help from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

in military intelligence. He promises to cut drug prices by 50% and to create one million jobs. He also opposes the legalisation of marriage for same sex couples and the

right to abortion Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as Pro-choice (term), pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have Abortion law, legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support wome ...

. In 2023, he ran again for the presidency and formed an alliance with former president

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 ...

(2000-2004), choosing a former lawyer as his running mate. He enjoys a high profile and support in the capital's political circles.

References

1970 births People from Guatemala City Guatemalan politicians Living people Arzú family {{Guatemala-bio-stub