Jorge Antonio Serrano Elías (born April 26, 1945) is a Guatemalan
industrial engineer
Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...
and politician who served as the 41st
president of Guatemala
The president of Guatemala (), officially titled President of the Republic of Guatemala (), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a single four-year term. The position of President was created in 1839.
Selectio ...
from January 14, 1991 to June 1, 1993. He attempted a self-coup in May 1993 to stay longer in power.
Life and career
Serrano was born on 26 April 1945 in
Guatemala City
Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...
as the son of Jorge Adán Serrano and Rosa Elías, who was of
Lebanese descent. After attending Liceo Guatemala he graduated from the
University of San Carlos with a degree in
industrial engineering
Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...
. Then, attended
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
U.S., where he studied
economic
An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
growth and gained a
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
in
education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
and
science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
. He then returned to Guatemala to become a
civil servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
. In 1976, he collaborated with various
American Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
churches to help the population recover from the
devastating earthquake that had afflicted the country. He then published a document describing the wretched conditions under which the
indigenous people lived, which resulted in him receiving threats. He went into exile in the U.S., only returning in 1982 to work in the government of fellow
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
General
Efraín Ríos Montt
José Efraín Ríos Montt (; 16 June 1926 – 1 April 2018) was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as ''de facto'' President of Guatemala from 1982 to 1983. His brief tenure as chief executive was one of the blo ...
as Vice President of the Advisory Board to the government.
In 1985, Serrano stood as presidential candidate for the ''Democratic Party of National Co-operation'' (PDCN) and the Revolutionary Party (PR), coming third with 12.6% of the vote. In September 1987, as the political party's representative, he became one of the four members of the National Reconciliation Commission (CNR).
President (1991–1993)
Serrano became the presidential candidate for the ''Solidarity Action Movement'' (MAS) in the 1990 presidential elections. He lost the first round on November 11 with 24.1% of the vote but won the second round against
Jorge Carpio on January 6, 1991 with 68.1%. Carpio unsuccessfully tried to use Serrano's fundamentalist beliefs against him as a campaign issue.
On January 14, Serrano replaced
Vinicio Cerezo as
President of Guatemala
The president of Guatemala (), officially titled President of the Republic of Guatemala (), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a single four-year term. The position of President was created in 1839.
Selectio ...
. He was the second non-
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
to gain power in Guatemala after Ríos Montt. The transfer of power marked the first time in decades that an incumbent president had peacefully surrendered power to an elected opposition victor. As his party gained only 18 of 116 seats in Congress, Serrano entered into a tenuous alliance with the Christian Democrats and Carpio's National Union of the Center (UCN).
The Serrano administration's record was mixed. It succeeded in consolidating
civilian control over the army, replacing several senior officers, and persuading the military to participate in peace talks with the URNG. He took the politically unpopular step of recognizing the sovereignty of
Belize
Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...
. The Serrano administration reversed the economic slide it inherited, reducing inflation and boosting real growth.
Jorge Serrano Elias
CIDOB.org. (accessed January 22, 2010)
On May 25, 1993, Serrano sparked the 1993 Guatemalan constitutional crisis when he illegally suspended the constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
When these pri ...
, dissolved Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
and the Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, imposed censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
, and tried to restrict civil freedoms, allegedly to fight corruption. The attempted self-coup
A self-coup, also called an autocoup () or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves or their supporters. The le ...
was similar to the one Peru's Alberto Fujimori carried out. However, Serrano's action met with strong protests by most elements of Guatemalan society, at the forefront of which was the '' Siglo Veintiuno'' newspaper under the leadership of José Rubén Zamora. This was combined with international pressure and the army's enforcement of the decisions of the Constitutional Court, which ruled against the attempted takeover. In the face of this pressure, Serrano resigned as president on June 1 and fled the country. He was replaced on an interim basis by his vice president, Gustavo Adolfo Espina Salguero
Gustavo Adolfo Espina Salguero (26 November 1946 – 23 October 2024) was a Guatemalan politician who served as Vice President of Guatemala, vice president from 1991 to 1993 under President of Guatemala, President Jorge Serrano Elías, Jorge S ...
. However, Espina was also involved in Serrano's self-coup, and Congress replaced him with Human Rights Ombudsman Ramiro de León Carpio.
Post-presidency
Serrano now resides in Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
with his wife, Magda Bianchi de Serrano. He has a set of twin sons, a son named Juan Pablo Serrano, and two daughters. He has three sisters, one of whom is Olga Stella Serrano de Salazar, who resides in Guatemala City
Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...
with her husband, Rafael Salazar Farfan. The Guatemalan government has made numerous unsuccessful attempts to have him extradited
In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...
on corruption charges. Jorge Serrano is involved in real estate as a developer and investor in Panama and the U.S. state of Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Serrano Elias, Jorge Antonio
20th-century presidents of Guatemala
1945 births
Living people
Politicians from Guatemala City
Guatemalan people of Lebanese descent
Guatemalan Protestants
Stanford University alumni
Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni
20th-century Guatemalan people
Guatemalan expatriates in Panama
Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic