Carlos Vinicio Gómez Ruiz (23 October 1961 – 27 June 2008) was a Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

n politician; at the time of his death, aged 48, he was serving as the country's interior minister

Interior minister

An interior ministry is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or minister of home affairs...

 (ministro de gobernación).

Career

Vinicio Gómez studied dental surgery at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala

The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala It is the biggest and oldest university of Guatemala, also it is the fourth founded in the Americas....

.
In the late 1980s he entered public service, with a series of appointments in the security services, specialising in criminalistics, anti-drug efforts, and combating organised crime.

He was appointed interior minister in January 2008 when President

President of Guatemala

The title of President of Guatemala has been the usual title of the leader of Guatemala since 1839, when that title was assumed by Mariano Rivera Paz...

 Álvaro Colom

Álvaro Colom

Álvaro Colom Caballeros is the President of Guatemala for the 2008–2012 term and leader of the social-democratic National Unity of Hope .-Early years:...

 took office. He had previously served as deputy minister in the government of Óscar Berger

Óscar Berger

Óscar José Rafael Berger Perdomo, born on 11 August 1946 in Guatemala City, is a former President of Guatemala.-Early years:Of Belgian descent, Berger was born to an upper class family with large sugar and coffee holdings...

.

Death

Gómez died in a helicopter crash in the central department of Baja Verapaz

Baja Verapaz

Baja Verapaz is a department in Guatemala. The capital is Salamá.Baja Verapaz houses the Mario Dary Biotope Preserve, preserving the native flora and fauna of the region, especially the endangered national bird of Guatemala, the Resplendent Quetzal....

 along with deputy minister Édgar Hernández Umaña and the helicopter's two pilots. The authorities lost radio contact with the aircraft at 1308 local time (1908 GMT) on Friday, 27 June 2008. It disappeared over Alta Verapaz

Alta Verapaz

Alta Verapaz is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and Baja Verapaz, and to the west by El Quiché.Also in Alta Verapaz...

 department en route to Guatemala City

Guatemala City

Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...

 from Petén

Petén

Petén or Peten may refer to:*Petén , a department of Guatemala*Petén Basin, the geographical / archaeological region of Mesoamerica and a center of the Maya civilization*Lake Petén Itzá, a lake in the Petén Basin region...

 in the north and was later found to have crashed in the municipality of Purulhá

Purulhá

Purulhá is a municipality in the Baja Verapaz department of Guatemala. It is situated at 1570 m above sea level. It contains 36,600 people. It covers a terrain of 248 km². The annual festival is June 10-June 13.-External links:*...

 at a location some 75 km from departmental capital Salamá

Salamá

Salamá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Baja Verapaz. It is situated at 940 m above sea level.The municipality of Salamá, for which the city of Salamá serves as the administrative centre, covers a total surface area of 776 km² and contains 40,000 people.The...

. It is thought that the crash was caused by bad weather. The officials were on their way to a regional security meeting.

As a result of the incident, Álvaro Colom returned home early from a Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

–Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

n summit under the aegis of the Tuxtla Mechanism in Villahermosa, Tabasco.
Three days of national mourning were declared and both functionaries were posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit.