Arturo Montiel

Summary

Arturo Montiel Rojas (born October 15, 1943) is a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was a governor of the State of México and a federal deputy.

Arturo Montiel
Governor of the State of Mexico
In office
16 September 1999 – 15 September 2005
Preceded byCésar Camacho Quiroz
Succeeded byEnrique Peña Nieto
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
for the State of Mexico′s 16th district
In office
1 November 1991 – 31 October 1994
Preceded byAlfredo Reyes Contreras
Succeeded byAgustín Mauro Jordán Arzate
Personal details
Born
Arturo Montiel Rojas

(1943-10-15) October 15, 1943 (age 80)
Atlacomulco, Mexico
Political partyInstitutional Revolutionary Party
Spouses
Paola Yáñez
(m. 1970; div. 2002)
Maude Versini
(m. 2002; div. 2008)
Norma Veraz
(m. 2009; div. 2015)
Karla Cortés Treviño
(m. 2016)
ChildrenArturo Montiel Yáñez, Juan Pablo Montiel Yáñez, Sofía, Adrián, Alexi
OccupationPolitician

Early life and education edit

Montiel is the son of Gregorio Montiel Monroy and Delia Rojas García. He received bachelor's degrees in public administration and accountancy from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1970. He married Maude Versini Lancry in 2002, a French journalist 31 years younger than he was. They divorced in September 2007.

Political career edit

As a politician, he was the mayor of Naucalpan and director of civil protection at the federal Ministry of the Interior. At the state level he was secretary of economic development and presided twice over the local branch of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

In 1999, during his gubernatorial campaign for the State of Mexico, he portrayed himself as a tough-on-crime candidate, using a series of radio spots in which he implied that criminals did not deserve human rights protection, saying "human rights are for humans, not for rats" ("rat" being common slang for "thief").[1] He won the election by simple majority and served from 1999 until 2005.

On August 4, 2005, he was elected as candidate of Unidad Democrática, a political group challenging former PRI leader Roberto Madrazo for the party's candidacy for the 2006 presidential election. However, in a press conference held on October 20, he announced that he would no longer seek his party's nomination because of accusations leveled against his family in the media, including his ownership of several luxury apartments and mansions in Mexico and France.[2]

Among other businesses he granted construction of more than 5,000 homes in an ecologically preserved community in the municipality of Atizapán de Zaragoza, the Zona Esmeralda. These new communities, shopping malls and schools were constructed on what used to be green areas and forests.

In 2013, Forbes magazine named Montiel as one of the 10 most corrupt Mexican politicians.[3]

Family edit

Enrique Peña Nieto, the 57th president of Mexico, is Montiel's nephew.[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ Montalvo, Tania. "Los personajes polémicos cercanos a Peña Nieto". CNN México. CNN. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  2. ^ Tobar, Hector (21 October 2005). "In Mexico, PRI's Montiel Ends His Presidential Bid". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  3. ^ Estevez, Dolia. "The 10 Most Corrupt Mexicans Of 2013". Forbes. Retrieved 1 September 2014.

External links edit

  • (in Spanish) Official site of Arturo Montiel (unavailable)
  • (in Spanish) México State Government: Arturo Montiel (unavailable)
  • (in French) Website created by ex-wife Maude Versini detailing Montiel's kidnapping of her three children