This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Rodríguez, and, for married women, the optional marital name is de Guevara.
Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara
Rodríguez as Director of Municipal Works
Presidential designate of El Salvador
Assumed office
1 December 2023
PresidentNayib Bukele
Preceded byMedardo González[1]
Director of Municipal Works
Assumed office
25 November 2021
PresidentNayib Bukele
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born1980 or 1981 (age 42–43)
El Salvador
Political partyNuevas Ideas
OccupationAccountant

Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara (born 1980 or 1981) is a Salvadoran accountant who has served as presidential designate and the acting president of El Salvador since 1 December 2023. She assumed presidential powers and duties after President Nayib Bukele was granted a leave of absence by the Legislative Assembly to focus on his 2024 re-election campaign, which some constitutional lawyers have argued violates the country's constitution.[2][3]

Rodríguez served as a finance manager for Bukele both before and during his presidency from 2019 to 2023. In 2021, Rodríguez was appointed as the Director of Municipal Works, and in 2022, she was named as Bukele's private secretary. On 30 November 2023, after granting Bukele and Vice President Félix Ulloa a leave of absence to run for re-election in the 2024 election, Rodríguez was selected by the Legislative Assembly to serve as designated president, a position she assumed the following day. Her appointment as presidential designate to assume presidential duties and powers has been criticized by lawyers as unconstitutional. Rodríguez is the first woman to hold presidential powers in El Salvador.

Early life

Rodríguez was born in 1980 or 1981.[4][5]

Rodríguez studied at the Reverend José Saberlio Ponce Christian College[6] and the General Francisco Morazán National Institute. She later attended the Francisco Gavidia University for five semesters, although she did not graduate.[7] She also completed a course at the Corporation of Accountants of El Salvador.[8]

Rodríguez previously served as a bidding and billing manager for Servicios Quirúrgicos de El Salvador, S.A. de C.V., as a finance manager for Obermet, S.A. de C.V., a company owned by the Bukele family,[9] and as an auxiliary accountant for Tire Center, S.A. de C.V.[6] In 2011, she founded a company which was a subsidiary of Alba Petróleos, which itself was a subsidiary of the PDVSA, a Venezuelan oil company.[10] That year, she was also a legal representative for MOV-I, S.A. de C.V.[6] She was the president of NRA, S.A. de C.V. from 2011 to 2018.[11]

Accounting career

From 2012 to 2015, she served as a finance manager for the municipality of Nuevo Cuscatlán while Nayib Bukele was its mayor. She served as the municipal treasurer of San Salvador while Bukele was its mayor from 2015 to 2018.[9] In August 2018, she was appointed as the finance manager for Nuevas Ideas, the political party established by Bukele in 2017; she is a member of Nuevas Ideas[7] In December 2023, the Gato Encerrado magazine alleged that she had received US$1.2 million in checks from the San Salvador mayor's office during Bukele's term as mayor of San Salvador.[11]

Rodríguez continued her service as a finance manager during Bukele's presidency beginning in June 2019.[12] In November 2022, Rodríguez became the director of the Emergency Committee and oversaw the allocation of US$2 billion of funds to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] On 25 November 2021, she was appointed by Bukele as the president of the board of directors of the newly created Directorate of Municipal Works.[12][14] On 17 March 2022, Bukele named Rodríguez as his private secretary.[15] She replaced Ernesto Castro, who had earlier assumed office as president of the Legislative Assembly.[16] On 21 April 2023, Bukele named Rodríguez as the representative of the board of directors of the Road Conservation Fund.[17] Rodríguez also previously served as the coordinator of the FANTEL-Dalton after the resignation of Carolina Recinos.[18]

Presidential designation

On 30 November 2023, the Legislative Assembly selected Rodríguez as the designated president after granting Bukele a leave of absence to focus on his 2024 re-election campaign,[19] which many politicians and constitutional lawyers have argued is illegal and unconstitutional.[20][21][22] Although she assumed presidential powers and duties, she did not assume the office of president itself;[23] her official title is the "Presidential Designate of the Republic in Charge of the Office" ("Designada por el Presidente de la República, Encargada de Despacho").[24]

She was confirmed with 67 in favor and 11 against with 6 absent out of 84 votes.[25] She officially assumed her presidential powers on 1 December and she was described by various media outlets as the country's first female president, although in an acting capacity; she will maintain her powers until the end of the presidential term on 1 June 2024.[26] President of the Legislative Assembly Castro and Guillermo Gallegos, a deputy from the Grand Alliance for National Unity, contradicted each other as to whether Rodríguez was sworn in or not. Castro claimed that she was sworn in, although not publicly, stating that "it did not have to be public" (no tenía que ser pública"). Meanwhile, Gallegos claimed that she was not sworn in as "she is simply the presidential designate, [...] it was determined that a swearing in was not necessary" ("ella es simplemente la designada del presidente, [...] se determinó que no era necesario el juramentarla").[27]

Rodríguez's appointment as presidential designate to temporarily assume presidential duties and powers was criticized by various lawyers, opposition politicians, and analysts.[28] Héctor Silva, the Nuestro Tiempo candidate for mayor of San Salvador wrote on X, "The current state of democracy in El Salvador: the office of the president of the Republic will by occupied by a person who nobody ever voted for" ("Estado actual de la democracia en El Salvador: la oficina del presidente de la República la ocupará una persona por la que nadie votó nunca").[29] Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) deputy to the Legislative Assembly César Reyes described Rodríguez as part of "President Bukele's inner circle" ("círculo mas íntimo del presidente Bukele") and "a very unknown profile to everyone" ("un perfil que no era muy conocido para todos") who "they installed to guard the throne [presidency]" ("pusieron para que cuidara el trono").[30] Political analyst Carlos Araujo stated that "Only a naïve person would believe that [Rodríguez] is going to govern, he [Bukele] is not going to let go of power, he will be involved in reviewing what his ministers do. Asking for leave is just a mere appearance". Economist Julia Martínez stated that "Bukele is not going to let anyone ruin what he has done, and that’s why he proposed [Rodríguez], she is part of his circle of control".[20] Lawyer Enrique Anaya posted on X that "if the designated lady [Rodríguez] actually exercises power in office, she is a USURPER, and not an acting president" ("si la sra designada ejerce el cargo de hecho, será una USURPADORA, y no una presidenta en funciones").[18] Ricardo Vaquerano, a Salvadoran investigative journalist, stated that the acting president must be a deputy of the Legislative Assembly, and as Rodríguez is not a deputy, he argued that, as a result, "there is no president in El Salvador at this moment".[31] According to some street interviews conducted in San Salvador by Voice of America, some Salvadorans doubt that Rodríguez would actually be governing the country and that instead Bukele would govern through Rodríguez.[32]

On 11 January 2024, Rodríguez accepted the resignation of Moisés Cabrera, the president of the board of directors of the Development Bank of El Salvador.[33]

Personal life

Rodríguez's brother, Douglas Rodríguez Fuentes, is currently the president of the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador,[34][35] having served since 19 September 2020.[36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Medardo González y Norma Guevara son los Designados a la Presidencia" [Medardo González and Norma Guevera are the Designates to the Presidency]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). 24 April 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Romero, Fátima (1 December 2023). "¿Quién es Claudia Rodríguez, la Presidenta Interina que Reemplazará a Bukele en su Licencia?" [Who Is Claudia Rodríguez, the Interim President Who Will Replace Bukele During His Leave of Absence?]. Bloomberg Línea (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara: Quién es la Mujer que Asumirá la Presidencia Tras Salida de Bukele" [Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara: Who is the Woman Who Will Assume the Presidency After Bukele's Departure?]. Prensa Libre (in Spanish). 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Congreso de El Salvador Concede Licencia a Bukele; Designan a Claudia de Guevara como Presidenta en Funciones" [Congress of El Salvador Concedes Leave of Absence to Bukele; Designates Claudia de Guevara as Acting President]. Emisoras Unidas (in Spanish). 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "El Salvador Tendrá su Primera Mujer Presidente: Bukele Abandona el Poder para Buscar la Reelección en 2024" [El Salvador Will Have Its First Female president: Bukele Abandons Power to Seek Re-Election in 2024]. El Colombiano (in Spanish). 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Magaña, Yolanda (1 December 2023). "¿Quién es Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara, Designada Presidencial de Bukele?" [Who is Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara, Bukele's Presidential Designate?]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  7. 1 2 Ortiz de Zárate, Roberto, ed. (6 December 2023). "Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara". Cidob (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara (Vigente)" [Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara (Current)]. Government of El Salvador (in Spanish). 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  9. 1 2 Magaña, Yolanda (30 November 2023). "Asamblea Nombra a Secretaria Privada de Bukele como Designada Presidencial" [Assembly Names Bukele's Private Secretary as Presidential Designate]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Gressier, Roman; Sanz, José Luis (1 December 2023). "Inner-Circle Financial Officer Will Be Interim President While Bukele Campaigns for Re-Election". El Faro. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  11. 1 2 Lemus, Efren; Cáceres, Gabriela (13 December 2023). "Bukele Recibió Pagos de Empresa Dirigida por Actual Delegada Presidencial Cuando Él Era Alcalde" [Bukele Received Payments from Company Led by the Current Presidential Designate When He Was Mayor]. El Faro (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  12. 1 2 Rodríguez, Milton (4 December 2021). "Critican Nombramiento de Funcionaria de Capres como Presidenta de ente Municipal" [They Criticize the Naming of a Presidential Civil Servant as President of the Municipal]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  13. ↑ Alvarado, Jimmy (23 October 2023). "Empresa Administrada por Ernesto Castro se Benefició con $527,000 de Alba Petróleos" [Business Administrator for Ernesto Castro Benefited from $527,000 of Alba Petróleos]. El Faro (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  14. ↑ "Bukele Propone a Designada Presidencial en El Salvador" [Bukele Proposes a Presidential Designate in El Salvador]. Prensa Latina (in Spanish). 30 November 2023. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  15. ↑ Campos Madrid, Gabriel (22 March 2022). "Bukele Nombra a Presidenta de la DOM como su Secretaria Privada" [Bukele Names the President of DOM as His Private Secretary]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Secretaria de Bukele Será la Primera Mujer en Ocupar la Presidencia en El Salvador" [Bukele's Secretary Will Be the First Woman to Occupy the Presidency of El Salvador]. Infobae (in Spanish). 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  17. ↑ Peñate, Susana (21 April 2023). "Bukele Mantiene a Secretaria Privada en Consejo Directivo de Fovial" [Bukele Keeps Private Secretary on the Fovial Board of Directors]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  18. 1 2 Velásquez, Eugenia; Benítez, Beatriz (1 December 2023). "Claudia Juana Rodríguez Sustituye Ilegalmente a Bukele en los Últimos Seis Meses de su Presidencia" [Claudia Juana Rodríguez Illegally Substitutes Bukele in the Final Six Months of His Presidency]. Gato Encerrado (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  19. ↑ Campos Madrid, Gabriel (30 November 2023). "Asamblea Otorga Permiso a Bukele para que Realice Campaña" [Assembly Grants Bukele Permission to Realize His Campaign]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  20. 1 2 "El Salvador Sees a Surprise Presidential Shift". The Tico Times. 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  21. ↑ Mejía, Juan Carlos (26 June 2023). ""En El Fondo Todo Está Viciado", Dice Abogado Sobre la Inscripción de Bukele como Precandidato Presidencial" ["Deep Down, Everything Is Flawed", Says Lawyer Regarding Bukele's Registration as a Presidential Pre-Candidate]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  22. ↑ Mondragón, Lissette (16 February 2023). "Constitucionalista Reitera Prohibición de Reelección en El Salvador" [Constitutionalist Reiterates the Prohibition of Re-election in El Salvador]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  23. ↑ "Designada del Presidente ya Sanciona Decretos como Encargada del Despacho" [Presidential Designate Now Sanctions Decrees as In Charge with the Office]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 14 December 2023. Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  24. ↑ "Decreto 906" [Decree 906]. National Press of El Salvador (in Spanish). Vol. 441, no. 230. San Salvador, El Salvador. 7 December 2023. p. 7. Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  25. ↑ López, Griselda (30 November 2023). "Asamblea Concede Licencia a Bukele y a Ulloa y Nombra como Designada Presidencial a Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara" [Assembly Concedes Leave of Absence to Bukele and Ulloa and Names Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara as Presidential Designate]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  26. ↑ "Secretaria Privada de Bukele Ocupará la Presidencia Durante Licencia del Mandatario" [Bukele's Private Secretary Will Occupy the Presidency During the Leave of Absence of the Incumbent]. Infobae (in Spanish). 30 November 2023. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  27. ↑ Peñate, Susana (6 December 2023). "Contradicción Entre Castro y Gallegos Sobre Juramentación de Presidenta Designada" [Contradiction Between Castro and Gallegos Regarding the Swearing In of the Designated President]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  28. ↑ "Secretaria Privada de Bukele Ocupará la Presidencia Durante Licencia del Mandatario" [Private Secretary of Bukele Will Occupy the Presidency During Leave of Absence of the Incumbent]. Swiss Info (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador. 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  29. ↑ "Quién es Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara, la Presidenta Interina de El Salvador que Sustituirá a Bukele Durante su Licencia de 6 Meses" [Who is Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara, the Interim President of El Salvador Who Will Substitute Bukele During His 6 Move Leave of Absence]. BBC (in Spanish). 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  30. ↑ "La Nueva Presidenta Interina de El Salvador Era Hasta Ayer la Secretaria Privada de Bukele" [The New Interim President of El Salvador Was Until Yesterday the Private Secretary of Bukele]. Associated Press (in Spanish). 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  31. ↑ Miranda, Wilfredo (4 December 2023). "Bukele Places Personal Secretary as Interim President as He Runs for Re-Election in El Salvador". El País. San José, Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  32. ↑ Rodríguez, Milton (7 December 2023). "Algunos Salvadoreños Creen que Bukele Gobernará a Través de Designada Durante Campaña de Reelección" [Some Salvadorans Believe the Bukele Will Govern Through the Designated President During His Re-Election Campaign]. Voice of America (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  33. ↑ "Designada Presidencial Acepta Renuncia de Presidente de Bandesal" [Presidential Designee Accepts the Resignation of the President of Bandesal]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  34. ↑ Peñate, Susana (1 December 2023). "Persona Artífice de las Cuentas Reservadas de Bukele Asume la Presidencia" [Architect of Bukele's Reserve Accounts Assumes the Presidency]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  35. ↑ Beltrán Luna, Jorge (4 October 2020). "Bukele Gobierna con 30 Funcionarios que Fueron sus Colaboradores en dos Alcaldías" [Bukele Governs with 30 Workers Who Were His Collaborators in Two Mayorships]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  36. ↑ "Galeria Presidentes" [Gallery of Presidents]. Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador (in Spanish). 28 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2023.

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