Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta
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| Secretary of Social Development of Mexico | |
| In office 8 April 1992 – 28 November 1993 |
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| President | Carlos Salinas de Gortari |
| Preceded by | Patricio Chirinos Calero |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Rojas Gutiérrez |
| President of the Institutional Revolutionary Party | |
| In office 3 September 1988 – 13 April 1992 |
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| Preceded by | Jorge de la Vega Domínguez |
| Succeeded by | Rafael Rodríguez Barrera |
| Senator of the Congress of the Union for Sonora |
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| In office 1 September 1988 – 2 December 1988 |
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| Preceded by | Fernando Mendoza Contreras |
| Succeeded by | Armando Hopkins Durazo |
| Member of the Congress of the Union for the 6th district of Sonora |
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| In office 1 September 1985 – 31 August 1988 |
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| Preceded by | Rubén Castro Ojeda |
| Succeeded by | Sergio Jesús Torres Serrano |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 February 1950 Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico |
| Died | 23 March 1994 (aged 44) Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico |
| Resting place | Municipal Cemetery Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico |
| Political party | .svg){kind=small} PRI |
| Spouse |
Diana Laura Riojas
(m. 1982) |
| Children | Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas Mariana Colosio |
| Parents | Luis Colosio Fernández Ofelia Murrieta Armida García |
| Occupation | Politician, economist |
Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlwis ðoˈnal.ðo koˈlo.sjo muˈrje.ta]; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexican presidential campaign of 1994.
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Political history
Colosio was the son of Luis Colosio Fernández and Ofelia Murrieta Armida García. Born into a family with a long political heritage in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Colosio's family was of Italian and Spanish descent.
Colosio-Murrieta studied economics at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, better known by its initials ITESM, after which he joined the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 1972. Shortly thereafter, he began postgraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania and research at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria before returning to Mexico. In 1979, he joined the Secretariat of Budget and Planning under future president Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
He was elected to Congress as the federal deputy for his home town in 1985 and, in 1987, he was selected to serve on the PRI's National Executive Committee. In 1988, Salinas chose him as the campaign manager for his presidential campaign. In the same election, Colosio was elected to the Senate, representing Sonora.
In the early years of Salinas' presidency, Colosio served as the chairman of their party's National Executive Committee. In 1992, Salinas chose him to serve in his cabinet, in the newly created position of Social Development Secretary.
Campaign for president
After a slow start, with the spotlight focusing on former foreign minister Manuel Camacho's negotiations with the EZLN guerrillas, Colosio appeared to get the traditional support of the political machine of the PRI. Like all the PRI's previous presidential candidates, he was greeted by large crowds throughout his presidential campaign, although the PRI's waning popularity meant some reduction in initial enthusiasm.
Speech on 6 March 1994
On 6 March 1994, the anniversary of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (the PRI), Colosio delivered a controversial but popular speech in the nation's capital, in front of the Monument to the Mexican Revolution. In it, he spoke of indigenous communities, government abuse, and the people's independence from government, all hot button issues at a time when the Zapatistas were making similar statements. The speech is widely considered the moment when Colosio broke with then-president Salinas.
Camacho vs Colosio
Since Mexico's constitution permits presidents to remain in power for only one term, and as an extralegal rule presidents (until Salinas) handpicked their own successors (the party's first primary election in history took place in 1999), Colosio apparently continued to enjoy the president's favour, expressed in his famous declaration No se hagan bolas: el candidato es Colosio ("Don't get confused: Colosio is the candidate" would be an appropriate translation, literally it means "Don't get tied up in knots: Colosio is the candidate").
Salinas' declaration was motivated by persistent rumors that highly visible Camacho would replace Colosio, who was not doing well in his campaign. Camacho let speculation grow for some time, but eventually declared he would not run for office, concentrating his attention on the Chiapas rebellion instead. The day after Camacho's statement, Colosio was killed.
Assassination
At 5:05 PM PST, on 23 March 1994, at a campaign rally in Lomas Taurinas, a poor neighborhood of Tijuana, Baja California, Colosio was shot dead with a .38 Special that was originally purchased in San Francisco. Colosio collapsed, and was subsequently rushed to the city's main hospital, after plans to fly him to an American hospital across the border were canceled. His death was announced a few hours later, amid contradicting eyewitness reports that remain to this day.
The shooter, Mario Aburto Martínez, was arrested at the site and never wavered from his story that he had acted alone. Nonetheless, many theories still surround Colosio's assassination.
On 18 November 1994, Diana Laura Riojas, the wife of Colosio, died while investigating the murder of her husband; officially she died from pancreatic cancer. The newly elected president Ernesto Zedillo did not attend her funeral.
See also
In Spanish: Luis Donaldo Colosio para niños
