Thelma Aldana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thelma Aldana | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| 11th Attorney General of Guatemala | |
| In office 17 May 2014 – 16 May 2018 | |
| President | Otto Pérez Molina Alejandro Maldonado Jimmy Morales |
| Preceded by | Claudia Paz y Paz |
| Succeeded by | María Consuelo Porras |
| 55th President of the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala | |
| In office 13 October 2011 – 13 October 2012 | |
| President | Álvaro Colom Otto Pérez Molina |
| Preceded by | Arturo Archila |
| Succeeded by | Gabriel Medrano |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández 27 September 1955 |
| Party | Semilla |
| Awards | Right Livelihood Award |
Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández[a] (Spanish pronunciation: ['telma espe'ɾansa al'dana eɾ'nanðes]; born 27 September 1955) is a Guatemalan jurist and politician who served as president of the Supreme Court from 2011 to 2012 and as attorney general from 2014 to 2018.
Thelma Aldana was born in Gualán, in the eastern department of Zacapa, in 1955. She is daughter of Humberto Aldana Vidal, a pharmacy attendant, and Marta Julia Hernández Garza, a rural teacher.[1] In 1982 Aldana graduated as a lawyer and notary from the University of San Carlos in Quetzaltenango. She has a master's degree in civil and procedural law.[2]
Career
She started her career in 1981 as a janitor at a family court in Quetzaltenango.[2][3][4] In 1999 she was appointed judge in a court of appeals.[2] In 2009 she became a magistrate in the Supreme Court. She served as the president of the Supreme Court from 2011-2012. In 2014 she replaced Claudia Paz y Paz as Guatemala’s attorney general. She is married.[5]
Courts for violence against women
In 2011, when she was president of the Supreme Court, Aldana started special courts in Guatemala for femicide cases. Killing women, and violence against women are rampant in Guatemala; every year there are on the average 56,000 reports of violence against women.[6] Eleven districts now have the special courts. Judges and police officers receive special gender crime training.
Against corruption
In 2015 Aldana led another investigation into government corruption.[7] In this, she closely cooperated with the Commissioner of the UN International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Iván Velásquez Gómez. As a result, President Otto Pérez Molina was forced to resign.[8]
Presidential campaign
In 2019, Aldana entered the presidential election, campaigning on the platform of anti-corruption with new party Semilla. However, on 15 May, the Constitutional Court rejected her candidacy for president, since she had been charged with corruption, despite no evidence being presented. It's believed that the charges were presented to stop her candidacy and an eventual presidency since she was the front-runner.[9]