Samuel Andrés Pérez Álvarez (born 27 August 1992) 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 ...

n economist and politician who served as the

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 ...

for five days in January 2024. A member of the political party Semilla, he has been a member of Congress since January 2020.

Personal life

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 ...

presented a case of espionage and illegal wiretapping in 2019, allegedly requested by the then Minister of Economy, Acisclo Valladares Urruela, against members of the Semilla, including Lucrecia Hernández Mack, Patricia Orantes and Pérez. The process was archived in 2023. Pérez was re-elected to Congress in 2023. A nine-hour delay of the inauguration of president-elect

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 ...

and Vice-President-elect

Karin Herrera Karin Larissa Herrera Aguilar (born 25 July 1967) is a Guatemalan biologist, professor, sociologist, and politician serving as the 18th vice president of Guatemala since 2024. A member of the political party Semilla, she was elected vice presid ...

caused by a delay of the inauguration of incoming deputies, due to a judicial order earlier in the day by the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

stripping Semilla of party status. Led by Pérez, the Semilla deputies negotiated a deal to be recognized as a bloc in Congress and elect Semilla deputies to congressional leadership, including the Board of Directors and the Debate Board. The deal secured a majority of 92 votes against a rival bid by

Shirley Rivera Shirley Joanna Rivera Zaldaña (born on 22 September 1971) is a Guatemalan politician who has been a member of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala since 2020. She was President from 2022 to 2024, and was the third woman to hold the potion a ...

, and Pérez was elected president of the Board. The Board members were elected and sworn in minutes before midnight, which then allowed for Congress to proceed with the inauguration of Arévalo and Herrera minutes after the constitutional deadline of midnight, which was officiated by Pérez as president of Congress. Pérez is the youngest person to take office as President of Congress.

References

1992 births Living people Guatemalan economists Guatemalan activists People from Guatemala City Members of the Congress of Guatemala Rafael Landívar University alumni Movimiento Semilla politicians Presidents of the Congress of Guatemala {{Guatemala-politician-stub