National Convergence Front

The National Convergence Front (Spanish: Frente de Convergencia Nacional, FCN–Nación) was a right-wing political party in Guatemala.[12]

National Convergence Front
Frente de Convergencia Nacional
PresidentJimmy Morales
General SecretaryJavier Alfonso Hernández Franco
Founded7 January 2008
Dissolved8 January 2024[1]
IdeologyConservatism[2][3]
Nationalism[4]
Christian right[5][6][7]
Political positionRight-wing[8][9][10] to far-right[11]
Colors  Blue
Seats in Congress
0 / 160
Website
www.fcnnacion.com

History edit

The party was established on 7 January 2008. It was initiated by a group of retired army officers, including veterans of Guatemalan Civil War, affiliated with the Military Veterans Association of Guatemala AVEMILGUA.[13] FCN did not nominate a presidential candidate in the 2011 general elections, but contested the Congressional elections, receiving 0.5% of the vote and failing to win a seat.[14] In March 2013, the party chose the popular comic TV actor Jimmy Morales as its General Secretary.[15]

Morales was the party's presidential candidate in the 2015 elections, which he won after receiving the largest vote share in the first round (24%) and then beating former first lady Sandra Torres in the run-off with 67% of the vote. In the Congressional elections the FCN received the fifth-highest vote share (9%), winning 11 of the 158 seats.[16]

FCN's head of the national list was Édgar Justino Ovalle Maldonado who is considered to be Jimmy Morales' "right-hand man". He commanded counter-insurgency operations in the Ixil Community in the early 1980s during which several massacres against the Ixil Mayas took place.[17] The violence against the Ixil was acknowledged as a genocide by the Supreme Court of Guatemala, but is denied by Jimmy Morales.[18]

Election results edit

President edit

Election Candidate First round Second round Status
President Vice President Votes % Votes %
2011 Did not participate
2015 Jimmy Morales Jafeth Cabrera 1,152,394 23.99% 2,751,058 67.44% Won
2019 Estuardo Galdámez Betty Marroquín Silva 180,983 4.12% Lost
2023 Sammy Morales Miguel Moir 21,971 0.53% Lost

Congress edit

Election Votes % Seats +/– Status
2011 23,272 0.53 (#14)
0 / 158
New Extra-parliamentary
2015 403,086 8.84 (#5)
11 / 158
  11 Government
2019 211,453 5.23 (#5)
8 / 160
  3 External support
2023 28,827 0.69 (#23)
0 / 160
  8 Extra-parliamentary

References edit

  1. ^ "¡Quedan fuera! TSE cancela 11 partidos políticos". Soy502 (in Spanish). 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  2. ^ Deborah Bonello; Anna-Cat Brigida (6 September 2015). "Runoff expected in Guatemala race as ex-president waits in a military jail". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ "Comedian Jimmy Morales frontrunner in Guatemalan election as former president Otto Perez sits in jail". ABC News. 6 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Celebrity outsider leads in Guatemalan election, second place open". DPA International. 8 September 2015.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Guatemala increases punishment for abortions and bans same-sex marriage". The Guardian. 9 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Guatemalan Women Face Up to 10 Years in Prison Under New Abortion Law". The New York Times. 9 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Guatemala Congress ramps up prison sentence for abortion, bans gay marriage". France24. 9 March 2022.
  8. ^ Orlando Perez (8 September 2015). "What happens now in Guatemala?". LatinAmericaGoesGlobal.
  9. ^ "Jimmy Morales, el comediante conservador que podría ser presidente de Guatemala". BBC Mundo. 7 September 2015.
  10. ^ Henry Morales (4 September 2015). "Jimmy Morales, el comediante que quiere ser un presidente serio". Prensa Libre.
  11. ^ "En desafío a las sentencias judiciales, los líderes del Congreso guatemaltecos impulsan un proyecto de ley de amnistía". Washington Office on Latin America (in Spanish). October 2, 2019.
  12. ^ Guatemala: ente electoral ordena cancelar el partido del presidente Morales
  13. ^ Steven Dudley (7 September 2015). "Guatemala Votes for Military-backed Candidate". InSightCrime.
  14. ^ Republic of Guatemala: Legislative elections of 11 September 2011 Adam Carr
  15. ^ "Nombran al comediante Jimmy Morales como secretario general de FCN". Emisoras Unidas. 10 March 2013. Archived from the original on 13 March 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  16. ^ Congresistas señalados son reelectos Prensa Libre, 8 September 2015
  17. ^ "La mano derecha de Jimmy: un oficial de operaciones contrainsurgentes". Centro de Medios Independientes (CMI). 4 September 2015.
  18. ^ Louisa Reynolds (10 June 2015). "In Guatemala, anti-establishment presidential candidate benefits from corruption scandals". The Tico Times.

External links edit