1. Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera was born on 24 September 1951 and is a Guatemalan politician who served as the 45th president of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004.
21 Facts About Alfonso Portillo
1. 2.
Alfonso Portillo took office on 14 January 2000, representing the Guatemalan Republican Front, the party then led by retired general and deposed military ruler Efrain Rios Montt.
3.
In 2014, ten years after his departure from the presidency, Portillo would plead guilty to corruption charges in a United States court.
4.
Alfonso Portillo allegedly received a degree in social sciences from the Autonomous University of Guerrero in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, and his doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.
5.
Alfonso Portillo later claimed that he had shot the students in self-defense.
6.
In 1989, Alfonso Portillo returned to Guatemala and joined the Social Democratic Party, which had replaced the Authentic Revolutionary Party the previous year.
7.
Alfonso Portillo then moved to the Guatemalan Christian Democrats.
8.
Alfonso Portillo became the DCG's Secretary General in 1993, was elected as one of their deputies in 1994, and became head of their group in Congress.
9.
Alfonso Portillo launched a campaign in favor of bringing morality into political life, to implacably fight corruption, and to defend the indigenous population and the poor campesinos against the small, urban, white elite.
10.
Alfonso Portillo promised security in the face of the growing problem of delinquency during Arzu's tenure in the office.
11.
Alfonso Portillo immediately admitted that he had shot the two students but claimed it was an act of self-defense.
12.
Alfonso Portillo said that he had fled from the Mexican authorities rather than face trial, both because of his political affiliations and because he was a foreigner in Mexico.
13.
Alfonso Portillo's government has been tainted by accusations of theft, money laundering, money transferring to the army, and the creation of bank accounts in Panama, Mexico, and the United States by many members of his staff, totaling more than US$1 billion.
14.
When his political immunity was revoked on 19 February 2004, Alfonso Portillo immediately fled to Mexico.
15.
Alfonso Portillo then lived in Mexico City in an apartment in one of the city's most exclusive neighborhoods.
16.
Alfonso Portillo was accused of authorizing $15 million in transfers to the Guatemalan defense department, where authorities believe most of the money was stolen by his associates.
17.
On 26 January 2010, Alfonso Portillo was apprehended by local authorities in Guatemala near Punta de Palma.
18.
Alfonso Portillo was extradited to the United States on 24 May 2013 to face money laundering charges.
19.
Alfonso Portillo is accused of laundering US$70 million of Guatemalan money through US banks.
20.
On 18 March 2014, former President Portillo pleaded guilty at a hearing before United States District Judge Robert P Patterson.
21.
On 25 February 2015, Alfonso Portillo was released from prison in Denver, the US, and returned to Guatemala City.