Francisco Barrio
Encyclopedia
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
politician affiliated to the National Action Party
National Action Party (Mexico)
The National Action Party , is one of the three main political parties in Mexico. The party's political platform is generally considered Centre-Right in the Mexican political spectrum. Since 2000, the President of Mexico has been a member of this party; both houses have PAN pluralities, but the...
(PAN). He is a former governor of Chihuahua
Governor of Chihuahua
According to the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua, Executive Power in that Mexican state resides with a single individual, the Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua, who is chosen for a period of six years and cannot for any reason...
and former secretary in the cabinet of President Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
.
Barrio was born in Satevo
Satevó
Satevó is a one of the 67 municipalities of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at San Francisco Javier de Satevó. The municipality covers an area of 2,185.1 km²....
, Chihuahua, and received a bachelor's degree in accounting and an MBA from the Autonomous University of Chihuahua. He did some consulting and worked in the private sector before joining the local chapter of the National Action Party in 1983 and becoming its first member to ever win the mayorship of Juárez, Chihuahua.
He ran for governor in 1986 and lost against the PRI
Institutional Revolutionary Party
The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few...
candidate, Fernando Baeza Meléndez, in one of the most controversial elections in the state's recent history. Six years later he made another attempt and won, ending more than 60 years of uninterrupted control of Chihuahua's governorship by members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. As a governor, he delivered mixed results and consequently the PRI regained control of the state at the end of his term. While governor of Chihuahua, hundreds of women were raped and murdered in Juarez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
. Barrio refused for years to mount an inquiry, and suggested the attacks were not surprising because the victims walked in dark places at night and wore provocative clothing.
In the course of his political career, Barrio-Terrazas has served as Mayor of Ciudad Juárez and Governor of the State of Chihuahua, a post he held from 1992 to 1998. In the 80’s, he held leadership roles in his native state during the political-democratic transition process, and later served as one of the first governors to rise from the ranks of the opposition party.
During his tenure as Governor, the State of Chihuahua placed first in the country in anti-corruption and good governance, according to the annual review conducted by the prestigious Monterrey Technological Institute of Higher Studies (ITESM).
Barrio headed the Federal Comptroller's Secretariat (2000 – 2003) and, in 2003, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, where he became the leader of the National Action Party's parliamentary group.
On February 24, 2005, he expressed interest in becoming the PAN presidential candidate and campaigned for a few months before quitting on July 7, arguing partisan favoritism towards the former minister of the interior, Santiago Creel
Santiago Creel
Santiago Creel Miranda is a Mexican senator representing the right-of-center National Action Party who served as Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of President Vicente Fox....
.
In January 2009 he was named as the Mexican ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. This was met with controversy and protests from rights organizations in Canada and Mexico, due to his actions during the Juarez murders.