[1] He was elected as vice president by Congress on May 14, 2015, after his predecessor, Roxana Baldetti, resigned amid allegations of corruption.

Before becoming vice president, he served as a constitutional judge, congressional deputy, ambassador to the United Nations, and political leader, including a failed presidential bid in 1982.

Born in Guatemala City, Maldonado graduated from San Carlos University with a degree in law.

[4] Since the 1960s, he was a member of the far-right National Liberation Movement political party (Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional or MLN), alleged to have started the use of death squads against communists.

[citation needed] One week after his appointment as Vice President in May 2015, protesters sought his resignation because he had overturned the guilty verdict in the Ríos Montt trial.