Biography of Felipe Calderón | Mexican politician.

(Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa; Morelia, Michoacan, 1962) Mexican politician of the party of national action (PAN), President of Mexico from 2006 to 2012. Born in a simple family, Felipe Calderón first studied at the Morelia Institute Valladolid, his hometown, and in 1987 graduated as lawyer for the free school of law of the city of Mexico. After completing a master's degree in economics in the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de Mexico (ITAM), between 1999 and 2000, he attended a second master's degree in public administration (MPA) by the John F. Kennedy government school of the University of Harvard, United States.

Felipe Calderón

Calderon's political life began early, since, in his words, he began "of child, handing out leaflets and painting fences" for the party of national action (PAN). This political grouping had come from the hand of his father, Luis Calderón Vega, an active militant (in addition to historian) that years later, in 1981, it would resolve to leave the ranks of the bread on the grounds that it had become a "party of the enterprise-class", although at that time was a member of federal.

The resignation of Luis was not followed by his son Philip, who, on the contrary, embarked on a meteoric career in the Pan rows. From 1987 he was national youth Secretary, and then Secretary of the National Executive Committee studies; between 1988 and 1991 he was representative to the Assembly of the Federal District, which served as the Vice President of the Commission of internal regulations; between 1991 and 1994 was Deputy federal and Secretary of the Committee on trade during the discussion and negotiation of the free trade agreement with the United States.

In 1993 Felipe Calderón married Margarita Zavala, a lawyer and activist in the PAN; now the couple has three children. That same year, shortly before the end of his term as a legislator, was elected general Secretary of the party, and in 1995 ran as a candidate for Governor for his home State (Michoacan), although he was not elected. One of the largest within the party race challenges came in 1996, when with only 34 years of age was elected National President of the PAN, who served until 1999. Also in the field of international politics gained recognition in full youth: in 1997 it became member of the Group global leaders of the future (of the World Economic Forum), and in 1998 Vice-President of the Christian Democrat International.

In the year 2000 Calderón returned to the parliamentary arena and again occupied a seat in the Chamber of Deputies; on that occasion he served as coordinator of the caucus of his party during the 58 legislature, who left in 2003 to serve in the public administration as director general of the National Bank of works and public services (Banobras). Its more direct collaboration with President Vicente Fox took place from September 2003, when it was incorporated into the Cabinet for the position of Secretary of energy; but his presidential aspirations generated you frictions with the President and he was forced to resign in May 2004 after Fox scold him having launched his candidacy at an event in Guadalajara.

The electoral campaign for the presidential elections of 2006, which were to provide the name of the successor to Vicente Fox, was the most intense thing that lived abroad in recent decades. The figure of the former Regent of the Federal District, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO, as it is popularly known), Member of the PRD and candidate of the Alliance for the good of all, appeared from the beginning as a threat to the ruling party, since he managed to remain at the top of the polls defending the slogan "for the good of all, first the poor". The other candidate with wide possibilities of conquering victory was the own Felipe Calderón, who had managed to prevail in the internal consultations from the bread to the preferred by the own Fox, Santiago Creel.

July 2 election day was marked by a mass participation and some situations of tension among the citizens related to the shortage of ballots. After carrying out the accounting of votes, who showed great parallel to the number of ballots in favor of both candidates, day 6 the Federal Electoral Institute declared winner Felipe Calderón a minimum difference of votes. Immediately, Lopez Obrador said it often results from the elections as fraudulent and which would require the manual counting of votes; on the other hand, at the time that began the formal process of claim before the Tribunal Electoral de the power Judicial of the Federation (TEPJF), Lopez Obrador called a large mobilization to demand transparency in the electoral process. The dispute was dirimido two months later, when on September 5 the TEPJF ruled in favor of Calderon, who got 14.916.927 votes, while Lopez Obrador won 14.683.096. In this way, the candidate of the PAN became President-elect by a difference of 233.831 votes, representing the 0.56 per cent of the total of the votes.

The start of his six-year term was marked by the operations against drug trafficking in Guerrero, Michoacán, Baja California, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, as well as the decision to extradite detained main bosses, influencing the rearrangement of the drug cartels. Calderon became the deployment of police on his business card, since this interpreted the Washington emergency and urgency of stopping violence against the paralysis that characterized the Government specifically in this area.

The rise in oil prices favoured Mexican economic growth in 2007 and won a strong increase of revenue of the State, which allowed the budget extension of public health policy (new universal insurance for the newly born and redeployment of health caravans). However, could not stop is (greater than 4% according to official figures) inflation, which acquired the dimensions of social protest directly affect the price of the tortilla, more expensive by the diversion of significant quantities of maize to the manufacture of biofuel crop both private speculation. The Government mediation before producers and manufacturers achieved the signing of the stabilization of the tortilla (January 2007), whose max price was set at 8.5 pesos.

To encourage the expansionist economic trend, President Calderon launched the reform of the system of pensions for workers in State (March) and reform (September) Prosecutor who got the approval of a Congress dominated by opposition parties. Along the same lines was approved an electoral reform aiming at the reduction of public funds dedicated to the financing of the elections. At the international level, he stressed the recomposition of diplomatic relations with Cuba and Venezuela, and the strong opposition to the construction of the border wall that turned the administration of the United States as a preventive measure against illegal immigration from Mexico.

As of 2008 President Calderon should bear the consequences of the international financial crisis, imposed challenges not covered by the ruling party and that by mid-2009 led the country into its biggest economic downturn in seven decades. Lower oil exports and manufacturing, joined the epidemic of influenza A (H1N1), which considerably affect trade and tourism, caused a drop of 10.3 percent of Mexican GDP in the first half of 2009. Among other reasons, this situation occurred in Mexico close dependency on the economy of the United States, where 80 percent of Mexican exports are destined.

In April 2009, Mexico became the first beneficiary of the credit line designed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help the world's economies affected by the global crisis, to receive a match of $ 47 million. In the month of September, President Calderón took the decision to abolish the ministries of tourism, agrarian reform and public service, as a reduction of State spending in 2010, year for which expected a 3 percent economic growth.

Within the framework of the celebrations of the bicentenary of the independence of Mexico, held during 2010, the Government undertook a magnificent piece of engineering that resulted in the bridge bulwark bicentennial, a viaduct elevated to more than four hundred meters above the river stronghold, spanning the Creek Espinazo del Diablo, in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. The bridge, officially inaugurated in January 2012, is part of Highway between Mazatlan and Durango, which is the largest investment in infrastructure during the administration of Calderon.

In June of the same year, Mexico joined in the creation of the Pacific Alliance, a new regional bloc comprising Colombia, Peru and Chile, which primarily aims to deepen commercial ties among its members, and the entire block with Asia-Pacific countries. Complete the mandate of Calderon, the 2012 elections became Enrique Peña Nieto of the PRI, his successor in the Presidency of Mexico; with this result the institutional Revolutionary Party recovered back power after a hiatus of twelve years, while the party of Calderon, the PAN, saw how his candidate, Josefina Vázquez Mota, was relegated to a discrete third place.

Extracted from the website: Biografías y Vidas