Guatemalan ex-president Colom dies from cancer, says former minister

FILE PHOTO: Guatemala's President Alvaro Colom speaks during a breakfast meeting with Central American leaders before the opening of the XIII Tuxtla Summit "Mechanism of Dialogue and Concentration", which seeks to strengthen trade ties between the countries of Central America, in Merida December 5, 2011. REUTERS/Victor Ruiz Garcia

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala's former president Alvaro Colom died on Monday aged 71 from esophageal cancer, his former security minister Carlos Menocal told Reuters.

The former president, who led the Central American country from 2008 to 2012, was very sick and released from the hospital a week and a half ago, Menocal told Reuters.