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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.
Thelma Aldana | |
|---|---|
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| 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 Gualán, Zacapa, Guatemala |
| Political party | Semilla |
| Residence | Guatemala City |
| Awards | Right Livelihood Award |
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]
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]
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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]
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]
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- Beatriz Ofelia de León - First female president of the Supreme Court of Guatemala
- Silvia Valdés - Third female president of the Supreme Court of Guatemala
- María Consuelo Porras - Attorney General of Guatemala
- List of the first women holders of political offices in North America
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