Álvaro Colom Caballeros was an engineer and businessman who served as the 47th Guatemalan President for one term from 2008 to 2012. . His term was marked by putting the country’s forgotten Indigenous communities at the center of his government, by expanding access to education and health care in Indigenous villages. He also provided aid to the poor in a country scarred by deep inequalities and decades of civil war. Caballeros was born in Guatemala City, the fourth of five children and earned a d... moreÁlvaro Colom Caballeros was an engineer and businessman who served as the 47th Guatemalan President for one term from 2008 to 2012. . His term was marked by putting the country’s forgotten Indigenous communities at the center of his government, by expanding access to education and health care in Indigenous villages. He also provided aid to the poor in a country scarred by deep inequalities and decades of civil war. Caballeros was born in Guatemala City, the fourth of five children and earned a degree in industrial engineering at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala. After graduating he taught in the Faculty of Engineering between 1975 and 1977 before becoming a businessman in the garment industry, manufacturing clothing for export. Before he became president, Caballeros headed a government fund that was set up to invest in villages that had been abandoned by the government during the 36-year civil war between military regimes and leftist guerrillas. Caballeros founded the party National Unity for Hope and ran for president three times before winning in 2008. His time in office was marred by corruption allegation, assassination allegation none of which were ever proven to be true in a court of law.
