Lucrecia María Hernández Mack (16 November 1973 – 6 September 2023) was a Guatemalan physician and politician who served a deputy of the

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 ...

from 2020 until her death in 2023. In July 2016, President

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

nominated Hernández Mack as the minister of Public Health and Social Assistance, becoming the first woman to serve in that position. In 2017, she resigned from her position in protest over President Morales' order to expel United Nations anti-corruption investigator

Iván Velásquez Gómez Iván Velásquez Gómez (born 12 May 1955) is a Colombian jurist and diplomat. From October 2013 to September 2019, he was the head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). In August 2022, he took office as Ministe ...

. A member of

Movimiento Semilla Movimiento Semilla (, ) is a centre-left, progressive, social-democratic political party in Guatemala. On 14 January 2024, it became Guatemala's governing party following the inauguration of President Bernardo Arévalo. The current legal status ...

, she served in the

after winning in the 2019 General Election.

Biography

Hernández Mack studied medicine at the

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC, ''University of San Carlos of Guatemala'') is the largest and oldest university of Guatemala; it is also the fourth founded in the Americas. Established in the Kingdom of Guatemala during the Spa ...

. She also obtained a master's degree in

Public Health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

Rafael Landívar University Rafael Landívar University ''(Universidad Rafael Landívar)'' is a private Catholic coeducational higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Vista Hermosa III Guatemala. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1961. The main campus is ...

and a doctorate from Mexico's

Metropolitan Autonomous University Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

(UAM). After graduating, she worked as a consultant in several international organizations such as the

Pan American Health Organization The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) in charge of international health cooperation in the Americas. It fosters technical cooperation among member countries to fight communicable and non ...

and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

. In 2015, she was actively involved in the protests that led to the resignation of President

Otto Pérez Molina Otto Fernando Pérez Molina (born December 1, 1950) is a Guatemalan politician and retired general who served as the 48th president of Guatemala from 2012 to 2015. Standing as the Patriotic Party (''Partido Patriota'') candidate, he lost the ...

. On 27 July 2016, President

appointed Hernández Mack to replace Alfonso Cabrera as Minister of Public Health. Cabrera had announced his stepping down the week before, citing personal and health reasons, after being in office for only several months. She became the first woman to head Guatemala's health ministry. Soon afterwards, many problems in the ministry, including misallocation of funds, over-spending and other irregularities indicating rampant corruption, led her to file a number of complaints with both the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

and the

International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (, CICIG) was an international body charged with investigating and prosecuting serious crime in Guatemala. On January 7, 2019, the agreement between the United Nations and Guatemala was te ...

(CICIG). She resigned on 27 August 2017 in response to the president's call for the expulsion of

, the head of CICIG. She accused President Morales of being in favor of "impunity". Three vice-ministers, Adrián Chávez, Juan Carlos Verdugo Urrejola, and Édgar Rolando González Barreno, resigned with her. Hernández Mack was among the founders of the progressive political party ''

'', whose presidential candidate,

Bernardo Arévalo César Bernardo Arévalo de León (; born 7 October 1958) is a Guatemalan diplomat, sociologist, writer, and politician serving as the 52nd and current president of Guatemala since 2024. A member and co-founder of the Movimiento Semilla, Semill ...

, won the 2023 elections. In 2019 she was elected to

for a four-year term as a member of Movimiento Semilla; during her time as a congresswoman she sponsored several pieces of legislation in the health sector. She declined to stand for re-election in 2023 for health reasons.

Personal life and death

Born on 16 November 1973, Lucrecia Hernández Mack was the daughter of anthropologist

Myrna Mack Myrna Mack Chang (24 October 1949 – 11 September 1990) was a Guatemalan anthropologist. In 1990, she was stabbed to death by elements in the Guatemalan military due to her criticism of the Guatemala government's treatment of the indigeno ...

, who was assassinated in 1990 by a military death squad because of her criticism of the Guatemalan government's treatment of internally displaced persons, particularly the indigenous

Maya peoples Maya () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived w ...

. Her murder later led to a case before the

Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I/A Court H.R.) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a human r ...

, through which her family received compensation from the state. Lucrecia Hernández Mack had two sons. She died of ovarian cancer on 6 September 2023, at the age of 49.Fallece diputada Lucrecia Hernández Mack
(Congreso de Guatemala, 6 September 2023)

Publications

*
Transformando el sistema público de salud desde el primer nivel de atención
'. (2012). Lucrecia Hernández Mack, César Sánchez, Juan Carlos Verdugo, Lidia Morales, Carmen Alicia Arriaga, Zully Hernández. Instituto de Salud Incluyente and Médicos Mundi Navarra.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez Mack, Lucrecia 1973 births 2023 deaths 21st-century Guatemalan women politicians 21st-century Guatemalan politicians Women government ministers of Guatemala Guatemalan feminists Guatemalan people of Chinese descent Guatemalan people of Maya descent Politicians from Guatemala City Movimiento Semilla politicians Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana alumni Rafael Landívar University alumni Deaths from cancer in Guatemala Deaths from ovarian cancer First women government ministers

Biography

Personal life and death

Publications

See also

References