Vinicio Gómez
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Carlos Vinicio Gómez Ruiz (23 October 1961 – 27 June 2008) was 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 politician; at the time of his death, aged 48, he was serving as the country's
interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...
''(ministro de gobernación)''.


Career

Vinicio Gómez studied dental surgery 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 ...
. In the late 1980s he entered public service, with a series of appointments in the security services, specialising in criminalistics, anti-drug efforts, and combating organised crime. He was appointed interior minister in January 2008 when
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 ...
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 ...
took office. He had previously served as deputy minister in the government of
Óscar Berger Óscar José Rafael Berger Perdomo (; born 11 August 1946) is a Guatemalan businessman and politician who served as the 46th president of Guatemala from 2004 to 2008. He previously served as mayor of Guatemala City from 1991 to 1999. Early y ...
.


Death

Gómez died in a helicopter crash in the central department of
Baja Verapaz Baja Verapaz () is a department in Guatemala. In 2018, the population of the department was 299,476. The capital is Salamá. 78.5% of the department’s population identifies as Maya, with 53% belonging to the Achi linguistic group. Baja Verap ...
along with deputy minister Édgar Hernández Umaña and the helicopter's two pilots. The authorities lost radio contact with the aircraft at 1308 local time (1908 UTC) on Friday, 27 June 2008. It disappeared over the
Alta Verapaz Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and ...
department en route to
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 ...
from Petén in the north.It was later found to have crashed in the municipality of
Purulhá Purulhá is a town and municipality in the Baja Verapaz department of Guatemala. It is situated at 1,570 m (5,151 ft) above sea level. The municipality covers an area of 536 km² and the population was 56,822 at the 2018 census. The annual f ...
, some 75 km from the departmental capital
Salamá Salamá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Baja Verapaz and it is situated at 940 m above sea level. The municipality of Salamá, for which the city of Salamá serves as the administrative centre, covers a total ...
. It is thought that the crash was caused by bad weather. The officials were on their way to a regional security meeting. As a result of the incident, Álvaro Colom returned home early from a
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
n summit under the aegis of the Tuxtla Mechanism in
Villahermosa, Tabasco Villahermosa ( , ; "Beautiful Town") is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Tabasco, and serves as the municipal seat (governing county) of the state. Located in Southeast Mexico, Villahermosa is an important city because of its ...
. Three days of national mourning were declared and both functionaries were posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit.Rendirán homenaje póstumo a ministro de Gobernación de Guatemala
Prensa Libre, 29 June 2008. Retrieved on 29 June 2008.


References

1961 births 2008 deaths Government ministers of Guatemala Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Guatemala Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2008 {{Guatemala-politician-stub