Background
Vinicio Cerezo was born in Guatemala on 26 December 1943.
Vinicio Cerezo was born in Guatemala on 26 December 1943.
He received a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from the College of Don Bosco and a master’s degree in public administration for development. He studied political science at Loyola University in New Orleans and in 1968 he became a lawyer.
Cerezo began his political career as a student leader of the Social Christian Movement. He joined the Christian Democratic Party in 1968 and held a number of positions in the party. In 1985 he was the party’s successful candidate for president.
As president, Cerezo had to tread a careful path between the military, which had largely dominated the country for 30 years, and civilian political leaders seeking justice against those who had dominated the military dictatorship for several decades. He also faced difficulties in carrying out the program of social reform on which he had been elected, while at the same time dealing with an exceedingly difficult short-run economic situation and with deep-seated resistance to reform by conservative civilian and military elements.