Thelma Aldana

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Thelma Aldana

| image = Reunión Subsecreatrio Adjunto Creamer con Fiscal General (cropped).jpg

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| birth_name = Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|09|27|df=y}}

| birth_place = Gualán, Zacapa, Guatemala

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| residence = Guatemala City

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| awards = Right Livelihood Award

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| party = Semilla

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| office = 11th Attorney General of Guatemala

| president = Otto Pérez Molina
Alejandro Maldonado
Jimmy Morales

| term_start = May 17, 2014

| term_end = May 16, 2018

| predecessor = Claudia Paz y Paz

| successor = María Consuelo Porras

| office2 = 55th President of the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala

| president2 = Álvaro Colom
Otto Pérez Molina

| deputy =

| term_start2 = October 13, 2011

| term_end2 = October 13, 2012

| predecessor2 = Arturo Archila

| successor2 = Gabriel Medrano

}}

Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández ({{IPA|es|'telma espe'ɾansa al'dana eɾ'nanðes|local}}; born 27 September 1955) is a Guatemalan jurist and politician who served as President of the Supreme Court from 2011 to 2012 and as attorney general from 2014 to 2018.

Early life and education

{{Anchor|Life}}Thelma Aldana was born in Gualán, eastern Guatemala, in 1955. She is daughter of Humberto Aldana Vidal, a pharmacy attendant, and Marta Julia Hernández Garza, a rural teacher.{{Cite web |last=Arrazola |first=Carlos |date=9 May 2014 |title=La favorita según muchos, la más preparada según ella |trans-title=The favorite to many, the most prepared according to her |url=https://www.plazapublica.com.gt/content/la-favorita-segun-muchos-la-mas-preparada-segun-ella |access-date=17 Apr 2023 |website=Plaza Pública |publication-place=Guatemala}} In 1982 Aldana graduated with a lawyer and notary degree from the University of San Carlos in Quetzaltenango. She has a Master's degree in Civil and Procedural Law.

Career

She started her career in 1981 as a janitor in a Family Court in Quetzaltenango.{{Cite web |title=Licda. Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández |url=http://www.oj.gob.gt/csj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124&itemid=106 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819033958/http://www.oj.gob.gt/csj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124&itemid=106 |archive-date=19 Aug 2016 |access-date=17 Apr 2023 |website=Organismo Judicial de Guatemala}}{{Cite web |last=Jaramillo |first=Velia |date=2017-08-23 |title=Thelma Aldana, la fiscal más Desafiante |trans-title=Thelma Aldana, the most defiant prosecutor |url=https://www.estrategiaynegocios.net/lasclavesdeldia/thelma-aldana-la-fiscal-mas-desafiante-FBEN1101334 |access-date=20 July 2022 |website=Estrategia y Negocios (E&N)}}{{Cite news |date=7 March 2017 |title=Thelma Aldana narra anécdota de cuando fue conserje en un juzgado |trans-title=Thelma Aldana narrates anecdote when she was a court janitor |work=Soy502 |url=https://www.soy502.com/articulo/aldana-recuerda-anos-como-conserje-inauguracion-secretaria-29974 |access-date=20 July 2022}} In 1999 she was appointed judge in a court of appeals. In 2009 she became a magistrate in the Supreme Court. She served as the president of the Supreme Court from 2011-2012. In 2014 she replaced Claudia Paz y Paz as Guatemala’s attorney general. She is married.{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2014/05/guatemala-s-attorney-general|title=Guatemala's attorney-general|date=22 May 2014|newspaper=The Economist}}

= Courts for violence against women =

In 2011, when she was president of the Supreme Court, Aldana started special courts in Guatemala for femicide cases. Killing women, and violence against women are rampant in Guatemala; every year there are on the average 56,000 reports of violence against women.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34978330|title=Where women are killed by their own families|work=BBC News|date=5 December 2015}} Eleven districts now have the special courts. Judges and police officers receive special gender crime training.

= Against corruption =

In 2015 Aldana led another investigation into government corruption.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/corruption-charges-turn-guatemala-upside-down|title=Corruption Charges Turn Guatemala Upside Down|author=Carlos Dada|date=4 September 2015|magazine=The New Yorker}} In this, she closely cooperated with the Commissioner of the UN International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Iván Velásquez Gómez. As a result, the President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina, was forced to resign.{{cite web|url=http://www.americasquarterly.org/content/aq-top-5-corruption-busters-thelma-aldana|title=AQ Top 5 Corruption Busters: Thelma Aldana - Americas Quarterly}}

Presidential campaign

In 2019, Aldana entered the presidential election, campaigning on the platform of anti-corruption with new party Semilla. However, on 15 May, the Constitutional Court rejected her candidacy for President, since she had been charged with corruption, despite no evidence being presented. It's believed that the charges were presented to stop her candidacy and an eventual presidency since she was the front-runner.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/guatemala-awaits-ruling-can-popular-anti-corruption-crusader-run-for-president/2019/05/14/8ec59356-7516-11e9-a7bf-c8a43b84ee31_story.html?noredirect=on|title=Guatemala court rules popular anti-corruption crusader ineligible to run for president|last=Cuffe|first=Sandra|date=15 May 2019|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=16 May 2019}}

Awards

In 2015 Aldana won the Jaime Brunet Prize for the Promotion of Human Rights from the Public University of Navarra. The prize was for her work for women's rights, against gender violence, and for the rights of the indigenous peoples, as well as against political corruption. The prize was 36,000 euros.{{cite web|url=http://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/navarra/mas_navarra/2015/12/10/fiscal_general_guatemala_premio_brunet_upna_354661_2061.html#cxrecs_s|title=UPNA - La fiscal general de Guatemala, Premio Brunet de la UPNA|author=EUROPA PRESS. PAMPLONA|date=10 December 2015|work=diariodenavarra.es}}

In 2016 she was recognised with an International Women of Courage Award by the US Secretary of State.[http://www.centralamericanetwork.org/blog-en/?p=170 Guatemala’s Women: Moving Their Country Forward « Central America Network], centralamericanetwork.org

In 2018 she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award along with Iván Velásquez Gómez for "their innovative work [with CICIG] in exposing abuse of power and prosecuting corruption, thus rebuilding people’s trust in public institutions."[https://www.foxnews.com/world/3-saudi-human-rights-activists-awarded-alternative-nobel 3 Saudi human rights activists awarded "Alternative Nobel"], JAN M. OLSEN, Fox News, September 24, 2018