Miguel de la Madrid
Encyclopedia : M : MI : MIG : Miguel de la Madrid
Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (born December 12, 1934) was President of Mexico, representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), from December 1, 1982 to December 1, 1988.
De la Madrid studied law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Public Administration at Harvard University in the United States.
He worked for Mexico's central bank and taught law at the UNAM before securing a position at the treasury in 1965. Between 1970 and 1972 he was employed by Pemex, Mexico's state-owned petroleum company, after which he held several other bureaucratic posts in the government of Luis Echeverría Álvarez. In 1976 he was chosen to serve in José López Portillo's cabinet as secretary of budget and planning.
He was president after López Portillo. He won the elections that took place on July 4, 1982, and took office the following December.
Unlike previous Mexican leaders, he was a market-oriented President, and his time in power was one of the most difficult periods of the country thanks to his predecessor's policies. Inflation skyrocketed on an average of over 100% a year (culminating to an average of 150% between 1985 and 1987), unemployment rates soared to as much as 25% during the mid-1980's, and productivity and income were rapidly falling. This became a stark reminder of the failure of the protectionist economic policies Mexico developed since the 1930s
Although many Mexicans view de la Madrid's period as economically bleak and uneventful, this is far from true. It was during this time in which he introduced liberal economic reforms that encouraged foreign investment, as well as widespread privatisations of outdated state-run industries and reduction of tarrifs, a process that would continue under his succesors. In 1986, Mexico entered the GATT treaty, thanks to its efforts of reforming and decentralising its economy. All told, the number of state-owned industries went down from over 1,000 in 1982 to 600 in 1988. This is enough to bring him some strong support, but his administration's mishandling of the infamous 1985 earthquake in Mexico City damaged his prestige for refusing international aid.
The next president was Carlos Salinas.
See also
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