PROFILBARU.COM

Thelma Aldana
Thelma Aldana
11th Attorney General of Guatemala
	In office; May 17, 2014 – May 16, 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; October 13, 2011 – October 13, 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 (age 69); Gualán, Zacapa, Guatemala
Political party	Semilla
Residence	Guatemala City
Awards	Right Livelihood Award

Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández (locally ['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.

Early life and education

Thelma Aldana was born in Gualán, eastern Guatemala, 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 with a lawyer and notary degree 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 in 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, the President of Guatemala, 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]

Awards

In 2015 Aldana won the Jaime Brunet Prize for the Promotion of Human Rights from the Public University of Navarra. The prize was for her work for women's rights, against gender violence, and for the rights of the indigenous peoples, as well as against political corruption. The prize was 36,000 euros.^[10]

In 2016 she was recognised with an International Women of Courage Award by the US Secretary of State.^[11]

In 2018 she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award along with Iván Velásquez Gómez for "their innovative work [with CICIG] in exposing abuse of power and prosecuting corruption, thus rebuilding people’s trust in public institutions."^[12]

References

^ Arrazola, Carlos (9 May 2014). "La favorita según muchos, la más preparada según ella" [The favorite to many, the most prepared according to her]. Plaza Pública. Guatemala. Retrieved 17 Apr 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Licda. Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández". Organismo Judicial de Guatemala. Archived from the original on 19 Aug 2016. Retrieved 17 Apr 2023.
^ Jaramillo, Velia (2017-08-23). "Thelma Aldana, la fiscal más Desafiante" [Thelma Aldana, the most defiant prosecutor]. Estrategia y Negocios (E&N). Retrieved 20 July 2022.
^ "Thelma Aldana narra anécdota de cuando fue conserje en un juzgado" [Thelma Aldana narrates anecdote when she was a court janitor]. Soy502. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
^ "Guatemala's attorney-general". The Economist. 22 May 2014.
^ "Where women are killed by their own families". BBC News. 5 December 2015.
^ Carlos Dada (4 September 2015). "Corruption Charges Turn Guatemala Upside Down". The New Yorker.
^ "AQ Top 5 Corruption Busters: Thelma Aldana - Americas Quarterly".
^ Cuffe, Sandra (15 May 2019). "Guatemala court rules popular anti-corruption crusader ineligible to run for president". Washington Post. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
^ EUROPA PRESS. PAMPLONA (10 December 2015). "UPNA - La fiscal general de Guatemala, Premio Brunet de la UPNA". diariodenavarra.es.
^ Guatemala’s Women: Moving Their Country Forward « Central America Network, centralamericanetwork.org
^ 3 Saudi human rights activists awarded "Alternative Nobel", JAN M. OLSEN, Fox News, September 24, 2018

Legal offices
Preceded by Claudia Paz y Paz	Attorney General of Guatemala 2014–2018	Succeeded by María Consuelo Porras
Preceded by Luis Arturo Archila	President of the Supreme Court of Justice 2011–2012	Succeeded by Gabriel Antonio Medrano
Party political offices
New political party	Semilla Movement nominee for President of Guatemala 2019	Succeeded by Bernardo Arévalo
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Aleksandr Konovalov	President of United Nations Convention against Corruption 2017–2018	Succeeded by María Consuelo Porras