Miguel Barbosa Huerta

Luis Miguel Gerónimo Barbosa Huerta KBE (30 September 1959 – 13 December 2022) was a Mexican politician affiliated with Morena who served as Governor of Puebla from 2019 until his death in 2022.[2] He was a senator of the LXII and LXIII Legislatures of the Mexican Congress and also served as a federal deputy between 2000 and 2003.[3] He was a candidate for the governorship of Puebla for the coalition Juntos Haremos Historia—formed by Morena, the Labor Party (PT) and the Social Encounter Party (PES)—for the state elections of 2018 and the 2019 special election.[4]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Barbosa and the second or maternal family name is Huerta.

Miguel Barbosa Huerta
KBE
Governor of Puebla
In office
1 August 2019 – 13 December 2022
Preceded byGuillermo Pacheco Pulido
Succeeded bySergio Salomón Céspedes
President of the Senate of Mexico
In office
1 September 2014 – 31 August 2015
Preceded byRaúl Cervantes Andrade
Succeeded byRoberto Gil Zuarth
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
from Puebla
In office
1 September 2000 – 31 August 2003
Constituency4th electoral region
Personal details
Born
Luis Miguel Gerónimo Barbosa Huerta

(1959-09-30)30 September 1959
Zinacatepec, Puebla, Mexico
Died13 December 2022(2022-12-13) (aged 63)
Mexico City, Mexico
Political party
Alma materNational Autonomous University of Mexico (LLB)
OccupationLawyer

Early life

Barbosa was born on 30 September 1959 in Zinacatepec as the third of five children; his family moved to Tehuacán when he was 10 years old, and he lived there until moving to Mexico City to attend the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).[5] After obtaining a law degree from the UNAM, he returned to Tehuacán to found the law firm Barbosa Huerta y Asociados.[3]

Political career

In 1994, Barbosa joined the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), becoming a national political councilor in the party in 1998 and its state leader.[3] Two years later, he left his law firm and became a federal deputy in the LVIII Legislature, with committee assignments including Public Safety, Navy, and Parliamentary Practices.[3]

After his three-year term in the Chamber of Deputies, Barbosa returned to the PRD and served in various party positions, as well as a member of the party's National Political Commission between 2008 and 2012, during which time he also was the national coordinator of the internal PRD group Nueva Izquierda.[3]

Senate (2012–2018)

In 2012, the PRD elected Barbosa to the Senate of the Republic; he served from 2012 to 2018 in the LXII and LXIII Legislatures.[3] From 2012 to 2017, he served as the PRD party coordinator in the Senate.[6] He resigned from the post in lieu of being removed after supporting Andrés Manuel López Obrador as a presidential candidate for 2018, in the wake of López Obrador's departure from the party several years prior.[7]

From 2014 to 2015, in the final year of the LXII Legislature, Barbosa served as president of the Senate, marking the first time that leftists presided over both chambers of Congress.[8]

2018 gubernatorial campaign

In October 2017, six months after joining the party,[1] Morena designated Barbosa as its state electoral organization coordinator, a position typically given by the party to its eventual gubernatorial nominees, after winning an internal poll.[9][10]

In the gubernatorial election in 2018, Barbosa ran as the candidate of the Juntos Haremos Historia (Together We'll Make History) coalition but lost to Martha Érika Alonso Hidalgo, whose PAN-led coalition obtained four more percentage points of the vote.[11] Barbosa supporters challenged the election results in court, and in early December 2018, the Superior Chamber of the Federal Electoral Tribunal affirmed Alonso's victory.[12]

2019 gubernatorial campaign

Shortly after being sworn in, however, Alonso died in a helicopter crash in December 2018. Barbosa later claimed that he had won the election, speaking in late 2019 that "they stole it from me, but God punished them" without using their names.[12][13][14]

As the death occurred in the first two years of the gubernatorial term, a special election was held to fill the seat.[15] A similar Juntos Haremos Historia coalition, with the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) replacing the liquidated Social Encounter, ran Barbosa as its candidate and received 44.6 percent of the vote. The election saw the lowest turnout for any gubernatorial vote in two decades in the state.[16][17]

Governorship

On 1 August 2019, Barbosa was sworn in as governor of Puebla; in his inaugural speech, he noted the state's debt of 44 billion pesos.[18] During Barbosa's more than three years as governor, he investigated alleged fraud by Alonso's husband, former Puebla governor Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, and he clashed with state figures including other Morena members and the Morena mayor of Puebla, the rector of the Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla, and social organizations.[19] His style, including morning press conferences that emulated those of López Obrador, increased political polarization in the state.[20]

The COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico dominated Barbosa's time in office; on 24 March 2020, he claimed that only the wealthy were at risk of contracting the disease and that the poor—including himself—were immune.[21][22] On 19 January 2022, he tested positive for the virus.[23] Natural disasters also occupied the state government's time and attention: in May 2021, a sinkhole opened in a farm field in the municipality of Juan C. Bonilla.[24]

The head of the state chapter of CANACINTRA, a private industry group, appraised his administration as not doing enough to attract investment, in part due to bureaucracy, and as overseeing an increase in the crime rate, including more violent crimes such as lynchings and murders, though he also praised the governor for his management of the pandemic.[25]

Among the last policies announced by the state government was a new requirement, to take effect in 2023, that vehicles entering Puebla and registered in other states had to buy a "Tourist Pass" as part of a scheme to encourage residents to register their vehicles locally in the state and thus to comply with new environmental regulations and emissions tests.[26]

Personal life

Barbosa was married to María del Rosario Orozco Caballero. Barbosa and Orozco had two children.[27]

Death

At 8:30 a.m. on 13 December 2022, Barbosa was transported to a public hospital in the city of Puebla[28] and later by helicopter to Mexico City, where he died.[29][30] President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced his death the same afternoon.[31] Barbosa had had complications of type 2 diabetes for decades,[32] including having his right foot amputated in 2014 due to sepsis.[33] Rumors had circulated of a medical event involving the governor since the preceding day,[29] and at his last public appearance, he admitted that he was suffering from pain in his arm.[32] His death made him the second governor to die in office in four years.[32]

Unlike after Martha Érika Alonso's death, when a special election was called, the state legislature would appoint a successor to Barbosa because the vacancy occurred in the final four years of the gubernatorial term. State secretary of government Ana Lucía Hill Mayoral took control of the governor's office until the legislature designated a substitute governor.[15] This occurred early on 15 December with the appointment of Sergio Salomón Céspedes of Tepeaca, who had been the leader of the Morena deputies in Puebla's state legislature.[34]

References
  1. "Anuncia Miguel Barbosa su afiliación a Morena – Puebla". La Jornada de Oriente. 24 April 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. "¿Quién es Miguel Barbosa Huerta?". El Universal México (in Spanish). 4 January 2019. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  3. "Perfil del legislador: Miguel Barbosa Huerta (LXIII Legislature)". Legislative Information System (in Spanish). Secretariat of the Interior. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  4. "Se registra Miguel Barbosa como precandidato de Morena al gobierno de Puebla". 30 January 2018. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  5. Pichardo, Guillermo (13 December 2022). "Muere Miguel Barbosa, gobernador de Puebla" [Miguel Barbosa, governor of Puebla, dies]. El Sol de Puebla (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  6. Zapata, Belén (14 August 2012). "El PRD nombra a sus coordinadores de bancada en el Congreso de la Unión" [PRD names caucus coordinators in Congress]. CNN México (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  7. "Renuncia Barbosa a la coordinación" [Barbosa resigns as coordinator]. El Universal (in Spanish). 13 March 2017. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  8. "La izquierda hará historia al presidir las dos cámaras del Congreso" [The left makes history and presides over both chambers of Congress]. CNN México (in Spanish). 28 August 2014. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  9. Pineda, María (23 October 2017). "Será Miguel Barbosa candidato a la gubernatura por Morena" [Miguel Barbosa will be Morena gubernatorial candidate]. E-Consulta (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  10. Rosas, Tania (9 July 2017). "Morena avala proceso para seleccionar candidatos rumbo al 2018" [Morena approves candidate selection process for 2018]. Excélsior. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  11. Mirón, Marco A. (8 July 2018). "Martha Erika Alonso, la candidata más votada en la historia de Puebla" [Martha Erika Alonso, the most voted candidate in the history of Puebla]. El Sol de Puebla (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  12. ""Me robaron, pero los castigó Dios": Barbosa sobre muerte de Martha Erika y Moreno Valle" ["They stole it from me, but God punished them": Barbosa on death of Martha Erika and Moreno Valle]. El Sol de Puebla (in Spanish). 9 October 2019. Archived from the original on 10 October 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  13. ""Yo gané, me la robaron; pero los castigó Dios": Barbosa" ["I won, they stole it from me; but God punished them": Barbosa]. El Universal (in Spanish). 10 October 2019. Archived from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  14. elEconomista.es. "Barbosa dice que Dios castigó a los que le robaron la elección en 2018 – economiahoy.mx". www.economiahoy.mx (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  15. "Quién asumirá el gobierno de Puebla tras la muerte de Miguel Barbosa" [Who will take over the Puebla state government after the death of Miguel Barbosa]. Infobae (in Spanish). 13 December 2022. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  16. Aguilar, Ernesto Aroche (3 June 2019). "Gana Barbosa gubernatura... con la participación electoral más baja en las últimas dos décadas" [Barbosa wins governorship...with the lowest electoral participation in the last two decades]. Lado B (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  17. Pérez Corona, Fernando (3 June 2019). "Morena arrebata Puebla y BC; PAN pierde bastión de 30 años" [Morena grabs Puebla and BC; PAN loses 30-year bastion]. Excélsior (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  18. Almanza, Erick (1 August 2019). "En toma de protesta, Barbosa acusa deuda de 44 mil mdp en Puebla" [In swearing in, Barbosa alleges debt of 44 billion pesos in Puebla]. El Financiero (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  19. Hernández Alcántara, Martín (14 December 2022). "Tras un infarto, muere el gobernador de Puebla, Luis Miguel Barbosa Huerta" [After a heart attack, Puebla governor Luis Miguel Barbosa Huerta dies]. La Jornada de Oriente (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  20. "Puebla: Muere Miguel Barbosa, gobernador del estado" [Puebla: Governor Miguel Barbosa dies]. El Informador (in Mexican Spanish). 14 December 2022. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  21. "Mexican governor says poor are 'immune' to coronavirus". ABC News. Associated Press. 26 March 2020. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  22. "Mexican governor prompts outrage with claim poor are immune to coronavirus". The Guardian. 26 March 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  23. "Gobernador Miguel Barbosa da positivo a covid-19" [Governor Miguel Barbosa tests positive for COVID-19]. La Jornada (in Spanish). 19 January 2022. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  24. Olivera, Alejandra (4 August 2022). "Un buen gobierno, clave para superar emergencias" [A good government, key to overcoming emergencies]. ContraReplica (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  25. Potenciano, Fernanda (1 August 2022). "A media gestión de Barbosa, IP reprocha rezago e inseguridad" [Halfway through Barbosa's term, private sector berates lag and insecurity]. E-Consulta (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  26. Ávila Pérez, Édgar (30 November 2022). "Puebla restringirá paso de vehículos con placas foráneas a partir de enero de 2023" [Puebla will restrict the passage of vehicles with out-of-state plates beginning in January 2023]. El Universal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  27. "Una familia de abogados: Miguel Barbosa, su esposa e hijos" [A family of lawyers: Miguel Barbosa, his spouse and kids]. E-Consulta (in Spanish). 13 December 2022. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  28. Cruz Cortés, Daniel (13 December 2022). "Recibe Barbosa atención hospitalaria por complicaciones en su salud" [Barbosa receives hospital care for health complications]. El Sol de Puebla (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  29. "Revelan que Miguel Barbosa fue trasladado en helicóptero a una clínica en el Pedregal de CDMX donde falleció" [Revealed that Miguel Barbosa was taken by helicopter to a clinic in the Pedregal area of Mexico City where he died]. El Universal (in Spanish). 13 December 2022. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  30. Bretón, Ángeles (13 December 2022). "Así fue el anuncio de la muerte de Miguel Barbosa en Casa Puebla" [How the death of Miguel Barbosa was announced at Casa Puebla]. El Universal Puebla. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  31. "AMLO informa del fallecimiento de Miguel Barbosa, gobernador de Puebla" [AMLO reports death of Miguel Barbosa, governor of Puebla]. El Universal (in Spanish). 13 December 2022. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  32. Camhaji, Elías (13 December 2022). "Muere Miguel Barbosa, gobernador de Puebla" [Miguel Barbosa, governor of Puebla, dies]. El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  33. Ramírez, Ne (13 December 2022). "Murió Miguel Barbosa, gobernador de Puebla, informa López Obrador" [Miguel Barbosa, governor of Puebla, dies, according to López Obrador]. Excélsior (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  34. Camhaji, Elías (15 December 2022). "Sergio Salomón Céspedes, nuevo gobernador sustituto de Puebla" [Sergio Salomón Céspedes, new substitute governor of Puebla]. El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
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