José López Portillo

For Mexican lawyer, politician and man-of-letters, see José López Portillo y Rojas.
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
Secretary of Finance and Public Credit
In office
May 29, 1973 – September 22, 1975
President Luis Echeverría Álvarez
Preceded by Hugo B. Margáin
Succeeded by Mario Ramón Beteta
Director of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad
In office
1972–1973
Preceded by Guillermo Villarreal Caravantes
Succeeded by Arsenio Farell Cubillas
Personal details
Born José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco
(1920-06-16)June 16, 1920
Mexico City, Mexico
Died February 17, 2004(2004-02-17) (aged 83)
Mexico City, Mexico
Nationality Mexican
Political party Institutional Revolutionary Party
Spouse(s) Carmen Romano (m. 1951; div. 1991)
Sasha Montenegro (m. 1995)
Children José Ramón
Carmen Beatriz
Paulina
Alma mater National Autonomous University of Mexico
Religion Roman Catholicism

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 and education

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.

Career

Early positions

After graduating, he began 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.

Presidency

Domestic policy

When López Portillo entered office, Mexico was in the midst of an economic crisis. He 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 to sell oil at preferential rates to countries in Central America and the Caribbean. According to some, the economic confidence that he fostered led to a short-term boost in economic growth, but by the time he left office, the economy had deterioated.[1]

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.[2]

Heads of State at the Cancun North–South Summit in 1981

López Portillo was the last economic nationalist president to emerge from the ranks of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Subsequent presidents have all been for free trade (librecambismo).

During his presidential term, his critics accused him of corruption and nepotism.[3]

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 vote (uninominals) and 100 being elected according to proportional representation (plurinominals).[4] The reform furthermore opened the electoral process for small opposition parties.[5]

Foreign policy

José López Portillo and U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the National Palace presidential office(1979).

In 1981, the Cancun Summit, a North-South dialogue, took place.[6] 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.[6] In 1977, after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, Mexico resumed diplomatic relations with Spain. Moreover, Pope John Paul II visited Mexico for the first time.[6]

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.

Personal life and death

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.[7] 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.[8] He was buried at the Pantheon Federal District military.

Works

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ Delgado de Cantú, Gloria M. (2007). Historia de México Vol. II. Pearson Educación. p. 409.
  2. ↑ Coerver, Don M. (2004). Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History. ABC-CLIO. p. 271.
  3. ↑ Flores Rangel, Juan José (2005). Historia de México. Cengage Learning Editores. p. 519.
  4. ↑ "Nuestro siglo - La Reforma política de 1977". Cámara de Diputados. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Flores Rangel, Juan José (2005). Historia de México. Cengage Learning Editores. p. 507.
  6. 1 2 3 Flores Rangel, Juan José (2005). Historia de México. Cengage Learning Editores. p. 525.
  7. ↑ Gunson, Phil. "José López Portillo Mexico's most reviled president". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ "Don Q Jose Lopez Portillo - MercadoLibre México" (in Spanish). Articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  10. ↑ "El Universal". El Universal. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to José López Portillo.
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
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