Luis Armando Rabbé Tejada (born 26 May 1956) is a Guatemalan politician and media entrepreneur. He was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Congress of Guatemala The Congress of the Republic () 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. The electoral system is cl ...

between 14 January 2015 and 14 January 2016. Rabbé was elected to the Congress of Guatemala in the 2011 elections for the National List under the banner of National Change Union. Three months after being installed he became an independent member. In the 2015 general election Rabbé ran once more for the National List, this time as the number two of the Renewed Democratic Liberty (LIDER). As member of the Guatemalan Republic Front (FRG) Rabbé unsuccessfully ran for the office of mayor of

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 ...

in 1999. He subsequently served as Minister of Communications in the government of

Alfonso Portillo Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera (born 24 September 1951) is a Guatemalan politician who served as the 45th president of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004. He took office on 14 January 2000, representing the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), the p ...

between 2000 and 2001. In the

2007 presidential election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto list of sovereign states, sovereign states and their list of dependent territories, dependent territories. Referendums are included ...

Rabbé was an unsuccessful candidate for the FRG.

Career and media

Rabbé was born on 26 May 1956. Rabbé had a career in media. He was president of , director of Radio Sonaro and later of Noti 7. Rabbé has also been an investor and director of the magazine Proceso.

Political career

In 1999 Rabbé started his political career. In the 1999 general elections he ran for the position of mayor of

for the Guatemalan Republic Front (FRG). He lost against Fritz García Gallont. In the same 1999 general elections

was elected president. Rabbé served in his government as Minister of Communication between January 2000 and June 2001. Rabbé was a presidential candidate for the FRG in the 2007 elections, he obtained 7,29% of the vote in the first round and was eliminated from the race. The contacts Rabbé build up during his time as Minister gave him the opportunity to successfully run for

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 ...

in the 2011 elections under the banner of National Change Union of Mario Estrada. Estrada had also served in the government of Portillo. Three months after being installed as Deputy Rabbé resigned from the National Change Union and became an independent member of Congress. He is a Deputy for the National List. Rabbé ran for the office of

of the Congress in 2013, but saw his attempt fail due to lack of support of Roberto Alejos and his party Todos. On 30 October 2014 was elected as President of the Congress, he was elected at the same time as the other members of the governing council. The group received 85 votes in favor and took office on 14 January 2015. Large parts of the opposition were absent during the vote. The group received support from the

Patriotic Party The Patriotic Party (), also known as the Patriot Party or, in English, as the Reform Party, was a political movement in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the period of the Four-Year Sejm (Great Sejm) of 1788–1792, whose chief achieveme ...

and

National Unity of Hope The National Unity of Hope (, UNE) is a populist political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 2002 and defined itself as a social-democratic and Christian socialism, social-Christian party, but since transformed and is now described as a right- ...

. As President, Rabbé succeeded Arístides Crespo, who was elected first vice-president. In the 2015 general election Rabbé ran once more for the National List, this time as the number two of the Renewed Democratic Liberty (LIDER) list. Rabbé's term as President of the Congress ended on 14 January 2016, he was succeeded by

Mario Taracena Mario Taracena Díaz-Sol (born 6 May 1957) is a Guatemalan politician. He was President of the Congress of Guatemala from January 2016 to January 2017. Taracena started his political career in 1984 and since then has served multiple times in the ...

. In April 2016 Rabbé switched parties to Alianza Ciudadana, becoming the last deputy to be allowed to do so in the term of Congress. In 2016 Rabbé became target of investigation in the ''plazas fantasmas'' scandal involving members of Congress. The investigation was led by the public prosecution service and the Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala. Rabbé and Arístides Crespo were seen as leaders of a group of seven deputies involved in abuse of power, misuse of state money and illegally appointing people to positions in government. Rabbé claimed immunity on charges against him. The however lifted his immunity in August 2016. In August Rabbé wrote a letter to Congress President

asking him to allow him to be absent from the Congress for a one-month period. He stated to wish to have some personal meetings abroad in relation to the charges against him. Rabbé meanwhile flew to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. On 5 September an arrest warrant for Rabbé was made public. On 22 September Rabbé lost his seat in the Congress and was temporarily replaced by Fernando García Gudiel.

Personal life

Rabbé's brother

Alfredo Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon name Alfred (name), Alfred and a common Italian language, Italian, Galician language, Galician, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. Given name Artists a ...

is a politician as well. Like his brother he was elected to Congress in 2011 for the National Change Union and left the party at the same time to continue as independent. Luis Rabbé is brother-in-law to Mexican media entrepreneur

Remigio Ángel González Remigio Ángel González (Higueras, Nuevo León, June 14, 1944) is a Mexican-born owner of the Latin American media network Albavisión. He has lived in Miami since 1987. The network (previously named Televideo Services) is named for his wife Alba ...

. González donated $2.6 million to the 1999 Presidential campaign of Alfonso Portillo. After becoming President, Portillo named Rabbé Minister of Communication.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabbe, Luis 1956 births Living people Communications ministers of Guatemala Guatemalan mass media people Institutional Republican Party politicians Independent politicians in Guatemala Members of the Congress of Guatemala National Change Union politicians Presidents of the Congress of Guatemala Renewed Democratic Liberty politicians