María José Iturbide

María José Iturbide is a Guatemalan politician who served as minister of environment and natural resources. She served from January 2024 to 11 April 2024 until President Bernardo Arévalo fired Iturbide after it was made aware that Iturbide assigned security and state vehicles to her daughter for her personal activities.

Biography
María José Iturbide has a B.Sc from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, a master's degree and a PhD in environmental science from the Lincoln University in New Zealand.

Prior to her ministerial nomination, she was in charge of the Foundation for Water Conservation (Funcagua) and advocated to protect water resources in the law. She also worked for the Wildlife Department of the National Council of Protected Areas.

Dismissal
On 7 April 2024, President Arévalo dismissed Iturbide. His decision came after a report was published by Vox Populi on 4 April, which revealed that María Fernanda Iturbide, daughter of Minister Iturbide, had used state vehicles for personal activities. The Secretary General of the Presidency published a statement on behalf of Arévalo, stating that the decision was made to "avoid any doubt about the commitment of his administration and tolerance to the misuse of State resources and corruption."