Óscar José Rafael Berger Perdomo was born on 11 August 1946 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. He is the current President of Guatemala.
His family were a part of the upper class with large sugar and coffee holdings. His father is a Mennonite. He graduated in law from the private, Jesuit Rafael Landívar University . In 1967 he married Wendy Widmann, also from a land owning Guatemalan family. From the mid seventies he ran a successful skittles parlor. In 1985 he joined Álvaro Arzú's successful campaign to become Guatemala city mayor. From January 1991 to June 1999, he was Mayor himself.
In the general election held on November 9, 2003, Berger was candidate for the conservative Grand National Alliance after being persuaded out of a retirement spent farming to return to politics. He obtained 34% of the votes, putting him well ahead of Álvaro Colom of the National Union of Hope (26%) and former president Efraín Ríos Montt of the Guatemalan Republican Front (19%).
A run-off vote between Berger and Colom took place on December 28, 2003, which Berger won with a 54% share of the vote. He was sworn in on January 14, 2004.
See also: Politics of Guatemala, List of political parties in Guatemala.
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Last updated: 06-02-2005 06:06:42
