Manuel Antonio Baldizón Méndez (, born 6 May 1970) is a

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, and hotel entrepreneur. He was the leader of the "Libertad Democrática Renovada" (LIDER) Renewed Democratic Liberty party and was a candidate in the 2015 presidential election placing third and losing to

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 ...

. He was also a candidate in the 2011 presidential election, placing second and losing to

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 ...

in a run-off vote. On January 20, 2018, he was captured in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, when he was accused of accepting bribes from

Odebrecht Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...

Early life and education

Manuel Baldizón originates from Amatitlan. He completed his

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

in the

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

as Second Lieutenant of the reserve in 1987. In 2000, he received his licentiate degree in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

and

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

, licence as

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

from the Universidad Mariano Galvez. Baldizón added postgradual studies at the

University of Valparaíso The University of Valparaíso (UV) is a state public university in Chile, with its headquarters and the majority of its campuses in the city of Valparaíso. It has several other campuses in the Valparaíso Region and in Santiago, which is 100&nb ...

, Chile, which he completed with an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

with honorable mentions. In 2004, he obtained his doctorate in law from 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 ...

. Afterwards, he took post-doctoral courses at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

, Spain.

Political career

He was elected to 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 ...

for the

National Advancement Party The National Advancement Party () was a 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, becoming Guatemala's 32nd president (1996– ...

(PAN) in 2003, but joined the

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- ...

(UNE) of

Álvaro Colom Álvaro Colom Caballeros (; 15 June 1951 – 23 January 2023) was a Guatemalan engineer, businessman, and politician who served as the 47th president of Guatemala from 2008 to 2012, as well as the General-Secretary of the political party, Natio ...

in 2006. Baldizón was re-elected as a Congressman in 2007. He defected from the governing UNE in 2009 and founded the LIDER party. In the 2011 general election, Manuel Baldizón was a presidential candidate. His running mate was Raquel Blandón, ex-wife of former president

Vinicio Cerezo Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo (born December 26, 1942) is a Guatemalan politician who served as the 40th President of Guatemala from 1986 to 1991. He also served as the Secretary General of the Central American Integration System (SICA) from 2 ...

. In the first round on 11 September, he won 1,004,215 votes (22.68%) and qualified for the runoff on 6 November. However he was defeated by the retired general

of 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 ...

in this second turn, winning 1,980,819 votes (46.26%). On 3 May 2015 Baldizón was named the presidential candidate for LIDER for the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

. He is accused of receiving money from

. The Brazilian construction company has admitted to paying multi-million dollar bribes to public officials in multiple countries to in order to win public contracts. In January 2018, he was detained in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in response to an Interpol arrest warrant on

graft Graft or grafting may refer to: *Graft (politics), a form of political corruption *Graft, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Graft-De Rijp Science and technology *Graft (surgery), a surgical procedure *Grafting, the joining of plant ti ...

charges, and will face extradition proceedings.

Personal life

Manuel Baldizón is married to Rosa Maria Vargas de Baldizón, and has two children. In 2011, during his presidential election campaign, his family was threatened by people claiming to be members of

Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate and designated terrorist organization, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent " shock and awe" tactics suc ...

Characterization

In press, Manuel Baldizón has been described as a multimillionaire, a

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

, a devout Christian, and a proponent of the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

. Special interest has been attracted by his promises to lead Guatemala's football team to the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. Also during his political rallies, he has been noted to bring security weapons of high caliber. Even though Article 125 of "The Arms and Ammunition Law" of the Guatemalan constitucion it specifies that only the Guatemalan Army is authorized to carry such weapons.

Plagiarism

On 20 January 2014, Baldizon released a book called ''Rompiendo Paradigmas'' (''Breaking Paradigms''). He held a presentation in Guatemala City only to have the book removed from the bookshelves two days later because evidence was found that a significant portion of the book's contents had been copied from other sources without properly providing reference to them or asking for permission. Baldizón's public relations office quickly responded to the accusations. The office said that, in the book's introduction, the author “clearly establishes that the book not only contains the author’s own ideas, but those of many people, including academics and authors.” They also encouraged readers to take the book as “a fusion of ideas,” and offered apologies to anyone who took offense. However, the magazine ''ContraPoder'' showed clear evidence that at least seven pages of the book used materials without proper citation in its bibliography. As a result, Manuel Baldizon's doctorate thesis was reviewed by the media, and it was found that most of it was also plagiarized. Despite the revelations, the Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala said they approved of the thesis after a review process, allowing Baldizon to keep his title.

References

External links

Manuel Baldizón's Campaign page
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldizon, Manuel Guatemalan businesspeople 21st-century Guatemalan lawyers National Advancement Party politicians National Unity of Hope politicians Renewed Democratic Liberty politicians Members of the Congress of Guatemala Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni People from Petén Department Guatemalan Protestants 1970 births Living people University of Salamanca alumni Universidad Mariano Gálvez alumni Guatemalan politicians convicted of crimes University of Valparaíso alumni