National Convergence Front

National Convergence Front
Leader Edgar Justiniano Ovalle
Founded 7 January 2008
Ideology Nationalism[1]
Conservatism[2][3]
Political position Right-wing[4][5][6]
Colors      Blue
Seats in Congress
11 / 158
Website
www.fcnnacion.com

The National Convergence Front (Spanish: Frente de Convergencia Nacional, FCN–Nación) is a political party in Guatemala.

History

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.[7] 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.[8]

In March 2013, the party chose the popular comic TV actor Jimmy Morales as its secretary-general.[9]

Jimmy Morales was the party's presidential candidate in the 2015 elections, which he won, receiving the greatest vote share in the first round (24%) and beating former first lady Sandra Torres in the run-off with 67.44% of the vote. In the Congressional elections FCN received the fifth-highest vote share at 9%, winning 11 of the 158 seats.[10] 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.[11] The violence against the Ixil was acknowledged as a genocide by the Supreme Court of Guatemala, but is denied by Jimmy Morales.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Celebrity outsider leads in Guatemalan election, second place open". DPA International. 8 September 2015.
  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. ↑ Orlando Perez (8 September 2015). "What happens now in Guatemala?". LatinAmericaGoesGlobal.
  5. ↑ "Jimmy Morales, el comediante conservador que podría ser presidente de Guatemala". BBC Mundo. 7 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Henry Morales (4 September 2015). "Jimmy Morales, el comediante que quiere ser un presidente serio". Prensa Libre.
  7. ↑ Steven Dudley (7 September 2015). "Guatemala Votes for Military-backed Candidate". InSightCrime.
  8. ↑ Republic of Guatemala: Legislative elections of 11 September 2011 Adam Carr
  9. ↑ "Nombran al comediante Jimmy Morales como secretario general de FCN". Emisoras Unidas. 10 March 2013.
  10. ↑ Congresistas señalados son reelectos Prensa Libre, 8 September 2015
  11. ↑ "La mano derecha de Jimmy: un oficial de operaciones contrainsurgentes". Centro de Medios Independientes (CMI). 4 September 2015.
  12. ↑ Louisa Reynolds (10 June 2015). "In Guatemala, anti-establishment presidential candidate benefits from corruption scandals". The Tico Times.

External links

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