Karin Herrera

Karin Herrera
Karin Larissa Herrera Aguilar (born 25 July 1968) is a Guatemalan biologist, professor, sociologist and politician who is the vice president-elect of Guatemala. A member of the political party Semilla, she will become vice president on 14 January 2024, alongside President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, having won the second round of the 2023 presidential election.
Early life and career
Herrera was born on 25 July 1968, in Guatemala City into a conservative middle-class family. She is the only daughter of Adalberto Herrera and Gladis Aguilar. Her father was a lawyer from Huehuetenango who served in 1976 as the titular judge of the Departmental Court of First Instance of Petén, while her mother is a housewife from Jutiapa. Herrera has remarked that her mother was conservative and anti-communist, but would later change her ideological positions after reading the book Massacres of the Jungle by Ricardo Falla-Sánchez.
During her childhood, her parents tried to protect her from the hostile environment caused by the internal armed conflict in the country. Both Herrera and her mother would witness the kidnapping of a neighbor, a young student from the University of San Carlos. The incident would leave a negative mark on Herrera's life, leading her to keep a low profile.
Education
Herrera graduated from the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the University of San Carlos with a degree in Biology. She has a master's degree in environmental studies at the University of the Valley and a doctorate in political science and sociology from the Pontifical University of Salamanca in Spain. She has received several international awards for her work in favor of the environment.
Lecturer and advisor
After graduation, Herrera began to work as a professor at the University of San Carlos and also as the university's director for the Chemical and Biological Research program. As a professor, she has taught courses on topics such as Microbiological Analysis and Control of Industrial Processes and, Microbiological Control of Food, Medicines and Cosmetics. She would also become an advisor to various organizations such as the Amatitlán Lake Authority (AMSA) to, Doctors Without Borders, and the National Network for Environmental Training and Research (REDFIA).
Herrera has collaborated with the Guatemalan Standards Commission (COGUANOR) and the Guatemalan Accreditation Office (OGA) and was a representative for the Technical Committee of Testing and Calibration Laboratories of the OGA. She has also participated as an advisor to several theses, seminars, and research projects.
USAC board member
During the 2015 demonstrations, Herrera would decide to participate with the USAC's policy board where she would be elected as a representative of the College of Pharmacists and Chemists of Guatemala. She would hold that position from 2015 to 2017.
In 2021, she was elected as the vice president of the Board of Directors of the College of Pharmacists and Chemists of Guatemala for the 2021–2023 period.
Political career
Herrera sympathized with the positions held by the Movimiento Semilla party. At the end of 2022, Deputy Román Castellanos invited her to participate in the internal process to elect the candidate for the vice presidency of Semilla. She was selected and elected by the party and was officially proclaimed in January 2023 as a candidate for the vice presidency and running mate of presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo to participate in the 2023 general elections.
Political position
Herrera has stated that her political ideology is based on Christian humanism.
Personal life
In 2001, she married biologist Gustavo Gómez Álvarez. The couple divorced in 2021. They have two children.
Apart from Spanish, Herrera is fluent in English.
References
Living people
1968 births
21st-century Guatemalan politicians
21st-century Guatemalan women politicians
People from Guatemala City
Academic staff of Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala
Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni
Guatemalan biologists
Guatemalan women scientists
University of Salamanca alumni
Movimiento Semilla politicians