Place of Birth: Guatemala City Educated: Espada earned his medical degree from Guatemala's state San Carlos University and trained as a thoracic surgeon at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Public Life: Born out of wedlock and raised by his mother, Espada only got to know his father - whom he shares with former interior minister Carlos Vielmann - later in life (Espada kept his mother's name out of respect to her). This exposure to the stigma of illegitimacy undoubtedly informed his concern for the poor throughout his career.
A surgeon at Methodist DeBakey Heart Centre in Houston Texas Hospital for over 30 years and a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Texas, Espada maintained strong links with Guatemala despite being based in the US. In 1994, he helped establish the first cardiovascular surgery unit in the Unidad de Cirugía Cardiovascular de Guatemala (Unicar) at the state-run Roosevelt Hospital.
As well as treating the Guatemalan political elite, for the last two decades he has also made monthly trips to Guatemala to provide surgery free-of-charge to the underprivileged.
Appointed adviser to the Guatemalan president and health ministry in 1995, Espada became more actively involved in politics through his role as mediator between the government and health sector in a doctors' strike which took place mid 2006 and lasted over 90 days.
During attempts to end the strike, in September 2006, then President Oscar Berger offered Espada the position of health minister which he turned down - in part because Vielmann was interior minister at the time and the constitution prohibits more than one family member occupying a ministerial position.
Having been formally presented as Colom's running mate for the November elections in March 2007, Espada was sworn in as vice president on 14 January 2008. Time Line 1970-76: Residency in general and thoracic surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
1977-1997: Instructor, assistant and associate professor of surgery, Baylor College of Medicine
1995-current: Medical director of Guatemala's Unidad de Cirugía Cardiovascular de Guatemala (Unicar)
1995-current: Adviser to the Guatemalan president and health ministry
1997-current: Professor, Baylor College of Medicine
2005-2007: Deputy chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Methodist DeBakey Heart Centre, Texas
2006: Acted as mediator between government and doctors in medical strike
14 January 2008: Inaugurated Vice President of Guatemala Strengths: An internationally-renowned surgeon, Espada has received numerous awards and recognitions throughout his distinguished career, including an honorary doctorate from the Univiersidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala, an honorary professorship from the Universidad LaSalle Mexico and the inaugural Methodist Hospital Humanitarian award among others.
Through having treated Guatemala's political elite and his ties to Vielmann, Espada is well connected and respected among politicians of all sides including Colom's rival, former general Otto Pérez Molina, Pérez Molina also made an overture to Espada which Espada turned down because he did not identify with the right-wing conservative ideology espoused by Pérez Molina.
His work and recognition in the US meanwhile is a boost for his international standing as well as gaining him support among the Guatemalan immigrant population while his work for the poor in Guatemala has also earned him wide-spread backing. The New York Times also cites Colom as saying that he chose Espada in part because his decades of living in the US reduced the likelihood that he was corrupt
Politically, Espada's commitment to social justice and fighting poverty aligns him with Colom and his professed social democrat ideology. Weaknesses: Critics question Espada's lack of political experience and the fact that he has not lived permanently in the country for over 30 years, arguing that he is consequently unlikely to appreciate the complexity of the country's problems.
Prospects: Espada is well respected among the political classes and the poor and has cited among his priorities: healthcare, education, and the continued integration of Guatemala into the global market.
Using a medical analogy to describe the state of the country, describing Guatemala as "sick, very sick, in intensive care" he has similarly invoked his own professional experience as valuable for his new job, pointing out that a "surgeon is disciplined, studious, responsible and, above all, capable of making life-and-death decisions every day".
Espada's ability to implement his declared goals of reducing poverty and enacting social justice however remains to be seen, dependent in part on the efficiency of the new cabinet. While featuring some social democrats - in the form of Haroldo Rodas (foreign affairs) and Juan Alberto Fuentes Knight (finance), Colom's ministerial team also unmistakeably represents the business elite.
Crucially in the area of health, the appointment of new health minister, Eusebio del Cid Peralta has attracted criticism and was reportedly not well received by the health unions. Del Cid had links to the now defunct Movimiento de Liberación Nacional (MLN), a party of the extreme right.</
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