Álvaro Colom, former president of Guatemala, dies at 71

By SONIA PÉREZ D.
Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Former Guatemala President Álvaro Colom, who governed from 2008 to 2012 and supported a United Nations anti-corruption mission that later investigated him, has died at age 71. Lawmakers from his National Unity of Hope Party announced his death late Monday. Colom won office in a runoff election in 2007, defeating retired Gen. Otto Perez Molina. He entered office promising to reduce poverty after having worked with civil war refugees. He was an ordained Mayan minister and said he would seek guidance from the Mayan Elders National Council, a group of spiritual leaders. Colom also supported the U.N. International Commission Against Impunity In Guatemala, which would later investigate him. He was arrested in 2008 along with nearly his entire former Cabinet but was never tried.