Óscar José Rafael Berger Perdomo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈoskaɾ xoˈse rafaˈel βeɾˈʃe peɾˈðomo]; born 11 August 1946) is a Guatemalan businessman and politician who served as the 46th president of Guatemala from 2004 to 2008.

As university classmates, Berger established a friendship with Álvaro Arzú, with whom they founded the then PAN civic committee, which would later become a political party.

Berger would run a campaign focusing on combatting poverty, increasing the country's wage limit, and being tough on organized crime.

Berger would go on to lose the second round of the presidential election; many speculated his loss as a punishment for the arrogance of President Arzú and the questionable ways state corporations were privatized during his mandate.

However, Montt would not have the significant votes to go to the second round, making the election a race between Álvaro Colom, leader of the National Unity of Hope (UNE), and Berger.

Running on a campaign of political, economic, and social reform and the explicit support of the country's oligarchs, Berger would win the election with 54% of the vote.

In his inaugural speech, Berger promised to continue strengthening government institutions, defend the rule of law, and fight against the impunity of corrupt and violent actors.

At the beginning of his presidency, persecution began against former officials of the Portillo administration, which raised a high expectation that the government would dismantle the corrupt structure of the State.

[9][10] He undertook a reform of the army, recognized the responsibility of the state for war crimes, and appointed Rigoberta Menchu, a figure of the pacifist and indigenous movement, as special ambassador to the presidency.

A CICIG report published in 2010 accused the government of Óscar Berger of carrying out "social cleansing" operations and ordering extrajudicial executions.

The passage through Central America of Hurricane Stan, whose consequences would be even more virulent than those produced years ago by Mitch, sowed chaos in the country, causing hundreds of fatalities and missing persons, as well as an incalculable number of victims.