José Agustín Olachea Avilés (September 3, 1890, Todos Santos, Baja California Sur – April 13, 1974, La Paz, Baja California Sur) was a Mexican general who supported

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...

for president. During the Cárdenas years he served as Governor of the Federal North Territory of Baja California, having previously filled the same post for

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

as a member of the social-democratic Institutional Revolutionary Party. This second gubernatorial term came during a period of rising hostility toward the Chinese population in Mexicali. Later, Olachea Avilés acted as

Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

under Adolfo López Mateos. In 1946, he was re-elected to a second, ten-year term as Governor of Baja California Sur. While still a young captain in the

Mexican Armed Forces The Mexican Armed Forces ( es, Fuerzas Armadas de México) are the military forces of the United Mexican States. The Spanish crown established a standing military in colonial Mexico in the eighteenth century. After Mexican independence in 1821, ...

, Olachea Avilés had married 16-year-old Ana María Borbón Yañez (1898-1982) in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Jalisco, with whom he had children. He was himself, through the paternal line, a second-generation Mexican of Basque descent, and a member of an extensive family still scattered across the Baja California Peninsula and in parts of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olachea Avile Mexican Secretaries of Defense Governors of Baja California Sur Politicians from Baja California Sur 1890 births 1974 deaths People from La Paz Municipality, Baja California Sur Mexican people of Basque descent 20th-century Mexican politicians 20th-century Mexican military personnel Military personnel from Baja California Sur

See also

References