Agustín Basave Benítez

Basave was born on September 21, 1958, in Monterrey. He served as a full-time investigator at the UNAM's Institute of Social Investigations and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Computer Administration Systems, awarded by the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in 1980.[1] Two years later, he obtained his master's degree in public policy and public administration from Purdue University, and in 1991, he graduated from Oxford University with a doctorate in political science.

Basave was originally a member of the PRI and served in several positions. Most notable among these was a three-year term in San Lázaro as a federal deputy to the LV Legislature, from 1991 to 1994.[1] He presided over the Border Matters Commission and was the secretary of the Programming and Budget Commission. Simultaneously with his first tour of duty as a federal deputy, he served as an advisor to the PRI candidate for president, Luis Donaldo Colosio.

After a year as director of policy development for the SEGOB, Basave was tapped to become the president of Fundación Colosio, A.C., where he lasted two years.[1] From 1997 to 1999, Basave directed the Corriente Renovadora within the PRI and served as a researcher at Tec de Monterrey. In 1999, he founded the school's Department of Political Science and Law.[1]

The late 1990s and early 2000s marked a major transition for Basave, most notably in terms of political party. From 2001 to 2004, Basave served as ambassador to Ireland. In 2002, Basave left the PRI; three years later, he participated in the campaign of the Coalition for the Good of All; he also ran for federal deputy in 2006.[1]

In the late 2000s, after being a president of the Consulting Council of the Broad Progressive Front, Basave returned to academia. He spent two years teaching at the UNAM's School of Political and Social Sciences (2007–09)[1] and left that post to head the graduate school of the Universidad Iberoamericana, later heading the university's Office of Outreach and Internal Relations.[1]

In 2015, Basave was placed on the party list from the second proportional representation district and won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies; he briefly served on the Migratory Matters and Transparency and Anticorruption Commissions. However, he lasted little more than two months in the seat. He resigned on November 6, 2015,[1] and was replaced by his alternate Fernando Galván Martínez, from the same party. The next day, he became president of the PRD, winning 295 votes of a possible 304.[2] He arrived at a party fraught with internal issues and losing popularity with the electorate.

In January 2016, Basave presented his resignation from the PRD presidency,[3] but took it back and continued as the head of the party.[4] On June 18, Basave definitively presented his resignation from the presidency effective July 2, noting that he failed to serve as a "sort of referee" between internal factions and that the decision was not prompted by the party's performance in gubernatorial elections.[5] Basave will return to the Chamber of Deputies.[5]