José López Portillo
| José López Portillo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 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 | José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco June 16, 1920 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Died | February 17, 2004 (aged 83) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Political party | Institutional Revolutionary Party |
| Spouse(s) | 1.Carmen Romano 2. Aleksandra Aćimović Popović (Sasha Montenegro) |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse ˈlopes porˈtiʝo]; June 16, 1920 – February 17, 2004) was a Mexican lawyer and, politician affiliated with Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 51st President of Mexico from 1976 to 1982.
Early life
López Portillo was born in Mexico City, to his father José López Portillo y Weber (1888–1974), an engineer, historian, researcher, and Mexican academic, and his mother Refugio Pacheco y Villa-Gordoa. He was the grandson of José López Portillo y Rojas, a lawyer, politician, and man-of-letters. He was the great-great-great grandson of José María Narváez (1768–1840), a Spanish explorer who was the first to enter Strait of Georgia in present-day British Columbia and the first to view the site now occupied by the city of Vancouver.
He 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 childhood, between 1973 and 1975.
Personal
López Portillo's first wife was Carmen Romano. After Romano's death in 1997, López Portillo married his longtime partner, the Yugoslavian-born actress Sasha Montenegro.[1] They had two children (Nabila and Alejandro) but later separated.
He was the brother of late Mexican novelist Margarita López Portillo, who died on May 8, 2006, of natural causes.
He died on February 17, 2004 in Mexico City when he was 83 years old, victim of a cardiac complication generated by a pneumonia.[2] He was buried at the Pantheon Federal District military.
Presidency
Domestic Policy
When López Portillo entered office, Mexico was in the midst of an economic crisis. 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. In 1980 Mexico joined Venezuela in the Pact of San José, a foreign aid project that would sell oil at preferential rates to countries in Central America and the Caribbean. According to some, the economic confidence that Portillo fostered did lead to a short-term boost in economic growth, but by the time he left office in 1982 the economy deteriorated.[3] Based on the oil profits, López Portillo increased government spending.[4] He also re-established good relations with the entrepreneur sector.[5]
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.[4]
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).
During his presidential term his critics accused him of corruption and nepotism.[6]
An electoral reform conducted during his presidential term increased the number of members of the Chamber of Deputies to 400: 300 being elected single-seat constituencies by plurality (uninominals) and 100 being elected according to proportional-representation (plurnominals).[7] The reform furthermore opened the electoral process for small opposition parties.[8]
Foreign Policy
In 1981 the Cancun Summit, a North-South dialogue, took place.[9] The summit was attended by 22 heads of state and government from industrialized countries (North) and developing nations (South). During López Portillo’s presidential term, Mexico supported the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua.[9] In 1977, after the end of the Franco dictatorship, Mexico resumed diplomatic relations with Spain. Moreover Pope John Paul II visited Mexico for the first time.[9]
Presidential succession
In the year leading to the end of his term as president on 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.
Works
- Génesis y teoría del Estado moderno (1965).
- Quetzalcóatl (1965).
- Don Q (1975, reimpresiones en 1976 y 1987).[10][11]
- Ellos vienen... La conquista de México (1987).
- Mis tiempos (2 tomos, 1988).
- Umbrales (1997).
- El súper PRI (2002).
Awards
Sweden, Knight of the Order of Seraphim 1980-05-05
References
- ↑ Gunson, Phil. "José López Portillo Mexico's most reviled president". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ↑ Kandell, Jonathan. "José López Portillo, President When Mexico's Default Set Off Debt Crisis, Dies at 83". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ↑ George A. Akerlof; Robert J. Shiller (2010). ,+George+Akerlof&source=gbs_navlinks_s Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 53–54. ISBN 9780691145921.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Coerver, Don M. (2004). Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History. ABC-CLIO. p. 271.
- ↑ Delgado de Cantú, Gloria M. (2007). Historia de México Vol. II. Pearson Educación. p. 409.
- ↑ Flores Rangel, Juan Jose (2005). Historia de Mexico. Cengage Learning Editores. p. 519.
- ↑ "Nuestro siglo - La Reforma política de 1977". Cámera de Diputados. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ↑ Flores Rangel, Juan Jose (2005). Historia de Mexico. Cengage Learning Editores. p. 507.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Flores Rangel, Juan Jose (2005). Historia de Mexico. Cengage Learning Editores. p. 525.
- ↑ "Don Q Jose Lopez Portillo - MercadoLibre México" (in Spanish). Articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
- ↑ "El Universal". El Universal. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to José López Portillo. |
- KANDELL, J. José López Portillo, Ex-President of Mexico, Dies at 83 (subscription needed), New York Times February 19, 2004 – article by same author reproduced here
- Mexico's ex-president Lopez Portillo dies, CNN.com, February 18, 2004.
- GUNSON, P. José López Portillo: Mexico's most reviled president, The Guardian, February 20, 2004.
- ILIFF, L. Few mourn ex-Mexican leader, Dallas Morning News, February 18, 2004 reproduced here
- DOYLE, Kate (ed.). Prelude to Disaster: José López Portillo and the Crash of 1976, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 115.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Luis Echeverría |
President of Mexico 1976–1982 |
Succeeded by Miguel de la Madrid |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Luis Echeverría Álvarez |
PRI presidential candidate 1976 (won) |
Succeeded by Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado |
