Jimmy Morales

Early and personal life

Morales was born in Guatemala City. He comes from a poor family and is an Evangelical Christian. He holds degrees in Business Administration from the national Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala and in theology.

Morales rose to fame as a TV comedian, starring in the series Moralejas ("Morals") alongside his brother Sammy. He formally changed his name from James Ernesto Morales Cabrera to Jimmy Morales by deed poll in 2011.

Morales is married and has four children.

Political career

In 2011, he ran as mayoral candidate in Mixco for the small right-wing Action for National Development party. In 2013, he joined the small National Convergence Front (FCN/Nation) and became its secretary-general.

In 2015 he was nominated as the FCN's presidential candidate. He was initially considered an outsider but surprisingly finished first in the first round of the election, qualifying for the runoff. He runs on a platform of conservative values and against corruption. His slogan is "Neither corrupt nor a thief" (Ni corrupto, ni ladrón). He identifies as a nationalist, supports the death penalty and opposes abortion. Moreover, he denies that a genocide against the Ixil Maya took place. Morales' success came after both former vice president Roxana Baldetti and outgoing president Otto Pérez Molina had to step down and were arrested on fraud and corruption charges (La Linea corruption case).

Morales' success was viewed as a sign of the distrust of many Guatemalans towards the traditional political elite that ruled the country for decades. Voter anger and military support helped the former comedian win the presidency against more experienced politicians who voters felt were tainted by a corrupt political system.

In 2017, Morales was criticised for seeking to thwart the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala after it began "investigating claims that his party took illegal donations, including from drug-traffickers" and asked "congress to strip him of immunity from prosecution."

Comments on Belize

When Morales was running for president, a Guatemalan journalist asked Morales which Guatemalan historical event he thinks is the most deplorable. Morales responded, "The most deplorable event – among all the things that have happened in Guatemala, there are certain things that are not spoken about and which I believe we should. Everything that goes contrary to national unity and territorial integrity are things that should hurt us. Something is happening right now, we are about to lose Belize. We have not lost it yet. We still have the possibility of going to the International Court of Justice where we can fight that territory or part of that territory. ... I think that it is worth anything that is natural resources and of benefit to the nation."

In response, Belizean Prime Minister Dean Barrow said, "Let's wait and see. I don't know that he will necessarily win. We will deal with what happens when it happens. Look, he's made at least one statement that is troubling, but I am hoping that if he does win the Guatemalan foreign policy establishment, the Guatemalan political elite and certainly the international community will make absolutely clear to that gentleman that any notion of pursuing their claim in a way that is disruptive of the good relations between Belize and Guatemala, that is threatening to Belize simply will not be tolerated. So, I am sure that we will be able to deal with that situation if and when it occurs."

Defense Minister Williams Mansilla confirmed on 22 April 2016 the deployment of 3,000 soldiers to the Guatemalan border with Belize after a shooting incident on Belize territory with army weapons had resulted in the death of a 13-year-old boy and the wounding of his 11-year-old brother as well as their 48-year-old father.

Corruption

In January 2017, Morales' older brother and close adviser Samuel "Sammy" Morales, as well as one of Morales' sons, José Manuel Morales, were arrested on corruption and money laundering charges.

In August 2017, a new political crisis emerged, as the rumors that president Morales had the intentions to remove commisioner Iván Velásquez from the International Comission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). On such a short notice, a presidential trip to the headquarters of the UN took place on 25 August, 2017. The topics in the agenda remained unknown until a meeting with Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, took place on the same day. The Government of Guatemala did not confirm nor deny the fact that the removal of Iván Velásquez had taken place during the meeting.

On 27 August, first thing in the morning, president Morales issued an executive order declaring commisioner Iván Velásquez "non grato", and expelled him from the country. As Minister Morales refused to sign the executive order, Morales was removed from office along with one of his viceministers, Carlos Ramiro Martínez. In the afternoon, news was known of the resignation of another viceminister of foreign affairs, Anamaría Diéguez. Morales named Jovel as successor to Carlos Raúl Morales and ordered him to immediately comply with the requirements to initiate the expulsion of the Colombian commissioner.

Honours