| José López Portillo y Pacheco | |
|---|---|
| 51st President of Mexico | |
| In office December 1, 1976 – November 30, 1982 |
|
| Preceded by | Luis Echeverría |
| Succeeded by | Miguel de la Madrid |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 16, 1920 Mexico City |
| Died | February 17, 2004 (aged 83) Mexico City |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Political party | Institutional Revolutionary Party |
| Spouse(s) | Carmen Romano |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
José López Portillo y Pacheco (June 16, 1920 – February 17, 2004) was the President of Mexico from 1976 to 1982.
Born in Mexico City, López Portillo studied Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) before beginning his political career with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 1959. He held several positions in the administrations of his two predecessors before being appointed to serve as finance minister under Luis Echeverría, a close friend, from 1973 to 1975.
López Portillo undertook an ambitious program to promote Mexico's economic development with revenues stemming from the discovery of new petroleum reserves in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the country's publicly owned oil company.
López Portillo undertook actions which were highly controversial with respect to the international banking establishment. One of his last actions as president, announced during his annual State of the Nation address on September 1, 1982, was to order the nationalization of the country's banking system.
López Portillo was the last nationalist president to emerge from the ranks of the PRI. Subsequent presidents have all been advocates of free trade (librecambismo).
His opponents internationally and domestically accused López Portillo of "rampant corruption," "excessive overseas borrowing," galloping inflation (which continued with his successor), and responsibility for devaluations of the peso.
His obituary in the New York Times referred to his well publicized generosity toward his one time mistress, Rosa Luz Alegría as "a symbol of the era's political decadence". He bought her a US$2 million mansion in Acapulco.
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In the year leading to the end of his term as president, December 1, 1982, López Portillo personally chose two candidates as possibilities to replace himself, following the succession ritual established by the PRI party. One, Javier García Paniagua would be the appointed one if a man of greater political skill were needed, and the other, ultimately his successor Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado was chosen for his financial and administrative skills, deemed much more necessary after the devaluation of the peso in February 1982 and the subsequent economic crisis.
In 1995, López Portillo married his long time mistress, the Yugoslavian-born actress Sasha Montenegro. They had two children but separated years later. Legal battles erupted between Montenegro and the children from his first marriage, to Carmen Romano. As of 2005 legal battles over the fortune of the ex-president continue. It is claimed that López Portillo and Sasha Montenegro were lovers when he was President, and that her relationship with the President gave her considerable support in building her career farther into the 1980s.
He was the brother of late Mexican novelist Margarita López Portillo who died on May 8, 2006 of natural causes. She was the Director of all Film and Radio as well as Television under her brother and fairly responsible for the corruption of the time in many areas of the entertainment industry, which included the protection of Sasha Montenegro from the Press and her future in-laws.
He was the great-great-great grandson of José María Narváez (1768–1840), a Spanish explorer who was the first to enter Georgia Strait in present-day British Columbia and the first to view the site now occupied by the city of Vancouver.
In 1980, during his presidency, Mexico joined Venezuela in the pact of San Jose whose purpose was to sell oil to Central American and Caribbean states at preferential rates.[1]