Bernardo Arévalo

At the time of Arévalo's birth, his father was living in political exile in South America following the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état.

Arévalo's family left Uruguay when he was less than two years old, and he spent parts of his childhood living in Venezuela, Mexico, and Chile.

He went to Guatemala for the first time at the age of 15 to study at the Liceo Guatemala, a private Catholic school in Guatemala City.

While his father was serving as the Ambassador of Guatemala to Israel, Arévalo attended and graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

At the Hebrew University, he studied the history of Christianity in Latin America.

He then obtained a doctorate in philosophy and social anthropology from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

César Bernardo Arévalo de León (born 7 October 1958) is a Guatemalan diplomat, sociologist, writer, and politician who is serving as the 52nd president of Guatemala.

Arévalo was born on 7 October 1958 in Montevideo, Uruguay, the son of Juan José Arévalo, the former President of Guatemala between 1945 and 1951, and his second wife, Margarita de León.

Arévalo joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the 1980s as a diplomat.

Between 1984 and 1986, he was the first secretary and consul at the Guatemalan embassy in Israel and subsequently acted as minister counselor from 1987 to 1988.

In 1988, Arévalo returned to Guatemala, where he was appointed deputy director of strategic studies and planning, again within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He went on to serve as director of bilateral foreign policy from 1990 to 1991, international bilateral relations from 1992 to 1993, and international economic and multilateral relations from 1993 to 1994.

In 1994, President Ramiro de León Carpio appointed Arévalo Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, a role Arévalo held until 1995.

During his time as deputy minister, Ernesto Zedillo, the President of Mexico, decorated Arévalo with the Order of the Aztec Eagle in 1995.

In 1995, Foreign Minister Alejandro Maldonado appointed Arévalo as Guatemala's ambassador to Spain; that same year, he presented his credentials to King Juan Carlos I.

In 1996, Arévalo left his position as ambassador as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After leaving his career as a diplomat, Arévalo served on the Center for Mesoamerican Regional Research (CIRMA) board and acted as its president.

From 1999, Arévalo held various roles at Interpeace, including advising on peacebuilding and conflict resolution in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

In addition to his peacekeeping work, Arévalo also worked as an advisor to organizations, including the United Nations, the United States Institute of Peace, and the University of San Diego.

He has written books and articles on history, politics, sociology, and diplomacy.

In 2015, Arévalo took part in the 2015 Guatemalan protests demanding the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina.

His electoral triumph makes him the first son of a former Guatemalan president to be elected president, the second president not to be born in Guatemalan territory, and Guatemala's second most voted-for candidate in the 21st century, surpassed only by former president Jimmy Morales (2016–2020).

Shortly after the demonstrations, Arévalo was among a group of intellectuals who formed Semilla, a think tank that subsequently was developed into the political party Movimiento Semilla in 2017.

Arévalo was announced as the preferred candidate for Semilla for the 2019 presidential election but ultimately declined the candidacy.

He was succeeded by Thelma Aldana, who was eventually prohibited from running.

Arévalo instead ran as a candidate for Congress on the national list and was elected as a congressman in the first round of the 2019 general election, becoming one of seven candidates from the Semilla party to win a seat for the IX Congressional legislature.

A member and co-founder of the Semilla party, he previously served as a deputy in the Congress of Guatemala from 2020 to 2024, as Ambassador to Spain from 1995 to 1996 and as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1995.

Arévalo is the son of former president Juan José Arévalo.

He defeated former first lady Sandra Torres in the second round of the 2023 presidential election on 20 August 2023.

Taking office on 14 January 2020, he served on several committees on foreign affairs, governance, human rights, national security, and national defense and led the Semilla parliamentary bloc between 2020 and 2022.

In 2022, he was elected as the Secretary-General Semilla, succeeding Samuel Pérez Álvarez.

During his four years as a Deputy, Arévalo took on the role of a rapporteur for several bills.

These bills dealt with various issues such as cutting off cellular connections to prisons, extending social security benefits to migrants, deputies, and workers in the informal sector, providing stricter penalties for those who abuse animals, and regulating the prices of pharmaceutical products.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Arévalo and the other members of the Semilla party introduced a bill that would have provided temporary relief to the populace.

The bill proposed a budget of 10 million quetzals, with each person receiving 1500 quetzals per month for the duration of the pandemic.

In March 2022, Arévalo was the rapporteur for a legislative proposal calling on President Alejandro Giammattei to take action against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

The proposal included the cancellation of the mining license of the Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel, a nickel-mining company that is owned by the Russian company Solway Investment Group.

In addition, the legislation called for the cancellation of the contract with the Russian government regarding the Sputnik V vaccines.

On 22 January 2023, Arévalo was announced as the presidential candidate for Semilla for the 2023 election, running alongside Karin Herrera as his vice-presidential running mate.

He was officially registered by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal on 16 February 2023.