Francisco Villagrán Kramer
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Francisco Villagrán Kramer (5 April 1927 – 12 July 2011) was a Guatemalan lawyer and
social democrat Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...
who 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 ...
in the government of General
Romeo Lucas García Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...
, beginning in 1978. He resigned from office on 1 September 1980, before his term ended, citing differences with the Lucas administration and disapproval of Guatemala's worsening
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
situation.Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Republic of Guatemala, Chapter IX, 1981
/ref> He then went into voluntary exile in 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 ...
, taking a position in the Legal Department of the Inter-American Development Bank. Villagrán later served on the Inter-American Juridical Committee of the Organization of American States (OAS) and on the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
'
International Law Commission The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by t ...
. In 1994 he was elected to the
Guatemalan Congress The Congress of the Republic ( es, Congreso de la República) is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Guatemala. The Guatemalan Congress is made up of 160 deputies who are elected by direct universal suffrage to serve four-year terms. ...
, where he was president of the Committee on Human Rights. In 1997, he was nominated for a seat on the OAS's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The nomination raised strong criticism based on the allegation that death squads had been active in Guatemala during his time as vice-president. Villagrán authored more than two dozen books and dozens of articles on international law and Guatemalan history and politics. In ''Biografía Política de Guatemala'' he described his involvement with the Lucas administration as a failed attempt to exert a moderating influence on an authoritarian regime.


References


External links


History of Guatemala chapter 9, (includes text of resignation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villagran Kramer, Francisco Vice presidents of Guatemala Members of the Congress of Guatemala People of the Guatemalan Civil War International Law Commission officials 1927 births 2011 deaths Guatemalan people of German descent Guatemalan officials of the United Nations Guatemalan expatriates in the United States