Miguel de la Madrid

Miguel de la Madrid
52nd President of Mexico
In office December 1, 1982 – November 30, 1988
Preceded by	José López Portillo
Succeeded by	Carlos Salinas
Personal details
Born	Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (1934-12-12)December 12, 1934 Colima, Mexico
Died	April 1, 2012(2012-04-01) (aged 77) Mexico City, Mexico
Nationality	Mexican
Political party	Institutional Revolutionary Party
Spouse(s)	Paloma Cordero Tapia

Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (December 12, 1934 – April 1, 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as 52nd President of Mexico from 1982 to 1988.

Biography

Miguel de la Madrid was born in La Ciudad de Colima, Colima, Mexico. He was the son of Alicia Hurtado and Miguel de la Madrid Castro a notable lawyer, who died when Miguel was only 2. His grandfather was Enrique O. de la Madrid who was governor of the state of Colima, Mexico. Miguel de la Madrid graduated with a bachelor's degree in Law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and received a master's degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in the United States.

He worked for Mexico's central bank and lectured in law at UNAM before securing a position at the Secretariat of Finance in 1965. Between 1970 and 1972 he was employed by Petróleos Mexicanos, Mexico's state-owned petroleum company, after which he held several other bureaucratic posts in the government of Luis Echeverría. In 1976 he was chosen to serve in José López Portillo's cabinet as secretary of budget and planning.

He was president after López Portillo. He won the elections that took place on July 4, 1982, and took office the following December.

He was a member of Collegium International, an organization of leaders with political, scientific, and ethical expertise whose goal is to provide new approaches in overcoming the obstacles in the way of a peaceful, socially just and an economically sustainable world.^{[citation needed]}

Mexican presidency

Miguel de la Madrid (left) with U.S. President Ronald Reagan (center) in Mazatlán (1988).

From left to right: U.S. President Ronald Reagan, his wife Nancy, Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid and his wife Paloma Cordero in Cross Hall, White House, during a state dinner.

Unlike previous Mexican leaders, he was a market-oriented President, and his time in power was one of the most difficult periods of the country because of his predecessors' policies, as well as the decreasing demand for oil. Inflation increased on an average of 100% a year (culminating to an unprecedented level of 159% in 1987), unemployment rates soared to as much as 25% during the mid-1980s, income declined and economic growth was erratic. This became a stark reminder of the gross mismanagement and inept policies of the administrations in the 1970s, particularly the financing of development with excessive borrowing from abroad.

First ladies Paloma Cordero of Mexico (left) and Nancy Reagan of the United States (right) with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, John Gavin observing the damage done by the earthquake.

During de la Madrid's presidency, he introduced liberal economic reforms that encouraged foreign investment, and widespread privatisations of outdated state-run industries and reduction of tariffs, a process that continued under his successors, which immediately caught the attention of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international observers. In 1986, Mexico entered the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) treaty, following its efforts of reforming and decentralising its economy. All told, the number of state-owned industries went down from approx. 1,155 in 1982 to 412 in 1988. This was enough to bring him some strong support, but his administration's mishandling of the infamous 1985 earthquake in Mexico City damaged his popularity for initially refusing international aid, and it placed Mexico's delicate path to economic recovery in an even more precarious situation, as the destruction also extended to other parts of the country.

Galloping inflation, the controversial privatisation programme and austerity measures imposed by his administration caused the ruling party to lose ground, leading up to the controversial elections of 1988.

Death

De la Madrid died on April 1, 2012, apparently following a lengthy hospitalization for complicated Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which led to acute renal failure and cardiac arrest.

See also

• List of Presidents of Mexico
• History of Mexico
• Politics of Mexico

References

Political offices
Preceded by José López Portillo	President of Mexico 1982–1988	Succeeded by Carlos Salinas

External links

• Biography by CIDOB (in Spanish)