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A Profile of Mexico's President-Elect Felipe Calderón
By Staff
BARRIOZONA
November 30, 2006
“We were an unpretentious family, we did not have much comfort, but we never lacked anything on the table of our home,
and we were always able to attend school.”
Thus describes his childhood Felipe Calderón Hinojosa − Mexico’s president elect. Born on August 18, 1962, in Morelia,
the capital city of the Mexican State of Michoacán, Calderón Hinojosa was born into a political family. The son of Luis
Calderón and María del Carmen Hinojosa, he was politically active since his early years. He participated in many political
campaigns of his father’s party − the National Action Party (PAN) − by distributing pamphlets, putting up posters, and
painting walls with campaign’s propaganda. His involvement would thrust him to become – years later – the Youth
National Secretary of the PAN.
Along a skyrocketing political career, Calderón Hinojosa obtained a bachelor’s degree in Law from the Escuela Libre de
Derecho in Mexico City, and a Masters degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM.)
He would complement his education by receiving a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University. In 1995 he unsuccessfully ran for governor of his native Michoacán. He was elected
President of the National Executive Committee − the highest rank in his party, a position he held from 1996 to 1999. He
was also a local representative in the Legislative Assembly and in the federal Chamber of Deputies for two terms.
Felipe Calderon’s political dimension expanded significantly when Vicente Fox was elected president in 2000. His first
appointed position in the Fox administration was Director of Banobras, a national bank specialized in providing financing
and technical assistance for infrastructure or public works projects for state and county governments. Later he was
appointed Secretary of Energy. Up until then, Calderón’s likelihood to become the presidential candidate for the PAN was
slim. However, he resigned that position to object President Fox’s criticism to his expressed presidential aspirations. Fox
was inclined toward his Secretary of Interior, Santiago Creel, succeeding him in office.
Nevertheless, party members chose Felipe Calderón as their presidential aspirant, and he became the official candidate
after winning primary elections against Creel, and Alberto Cárdenas, a former governor, and another aspiring pre-
candidate. Calderón accepted his party’s nomination on December of 2005, and immediately began his campaign on
New Year’s Day 2006.
Initially, Calderón lacked popularity and presence, but after the first presidential debate, his campaign gained momentum.
Little more than three months after the commence of his presidential campaign, his popularity significantly increased,
placing him, according to the polls, ahead of former Mexico’s City Mayor − and much popular − Andrés Manuel López
Obrador. Calderón was able to sustain this advantage for about two months, before his lead declined right after the
second presidential debate, when López Obrador presented serious accusations against him. Close-to-the-election polls
predicted a very tight election outcome; some placed López Obrador ahead of the race, and other polls favored Calderón
Hinojosa. The polls projected a trend that characterized the close and disputed results.
On July 2nd, millions of Mexican citizens throughout the nation showed up to vote in record numbers , expecting to know by
day’s end who would be their next president. The historic voter’s turnout was shadowed when the Federal Electoral
Institute (IFE) announced that the race was too close to call. IFE officials declined to make public the results of a
sophisticated exit poll. Against the IFE’s wishes, both Calderón and Lopez Obrador claimed victory that night on national
television. On Monday morning July 3rd, unofficial election results provided by the Program of Preliminary Electoral
Results (PREP) presented Felipe Calderón as having a slight lead with 1.04%.
Three days later, the IFE presented their official count. By an unbelievable narrow edge − 0.58% − over López Obrador,
Felipe Calderón was the winner of the election. The close margin, and allegations of irregularities in many polling posts,
prompted López Obrador and his party coalition to demand a national recount. At the end, the highest electoral authority in
Mexico, the Federal Electoral Tribunal rejected a full recount, only allowing 9.07% of the polling stations. Two months later,
on September 5th, Felipe Calderón was ratified as the new president-elect with a lead of only 233,831 (0.56%) votes
more than López Obrador.
BIO
Born on August 18, 1962 in the city of Morelia, Michoacan, in Mexico. He is a Catholic Conservative Mexican politician, and
president-elect. A former president of his party and former Secretary of Energy in the cabinet of President Vicente Fox. He
received a bachelor's degree in law from the Escuela Libre de Derecho in Mexico City, has a master's degree in
economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and has a master's degree in public administration
from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He was president of his party's youth movement in his
early twenties. He was also a federal representative in the Legislative Assembly, and on two different occasions in the
Chamber of Deputies. He ran for the governorship of Michoacan in 1995 and served as national president of the PAN from
1996 to 1999. During this period, his party maintained control of 14 Mexican states capitals. He is married to Margarita
Zavala; they have three children.
Copyright © 2006 Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
Grassroots Journalism
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