Graco Luis Ramírez Garrido Abreu (born 26 June 1949) is a Mexican left-wing politician affiliated with the

Democratic Revolution Party The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD, es, Partido de la Revolución Democrática, ) is a social democratic political party in Mexico. The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 1986 from the Institut ...

(PRD) who was

Governor of Morelos The governor of Morelos, which was created with the state of Mexico in 1869. (Morelos was a Federal Territory from June 17, 1914, to February 5, 1917.) See also * List of Mexican state governors *List of people from Morelos, Mexico *List of g ...

for the 2012–2018 term. He served in the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

as senator representing the

State of Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cue ...

(2006–2012).

Personal life and education

Graco Ramírez holds a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in law from the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

(UNAM). He is the son of a member of the Mexican armed forces. He also is part of the group known as Toby's Club which is a group of prominent people that control most of the important projects in the state, the groups has: notaries, artists, judges, businessmen.

Political career

On several occasions, Ramirez stated that he was a leader of the student movement that culminated in the

Tlatelolco massacre On October 2, 1968 in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City, the Mexican Armed Forces opened fire on a group of unarmed civilians in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas who were protesting the upcoming 1968 Summer Olympics. The Mexican government and ...

of October 2, 1968; at least one leader has challenged this assertion. Graco Ramírez began his political career as an

Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...

(PRI) member; he served as president of the PRI in Tabasco. He then became a founder and member of the Socialist Worker's Party, the

Mexican Socialist Party The Socialist Mexican Party (, PMS) was a left-wing Mexican political party, and one of the immediate antecedents of the present Party of the Democratic Revolution. It was the last effort to unify the different Mexican left-wing parties, as well ...

and the

Party of the Democratic Revolution The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD, es, Partido de la Revolución Democrática, ) is a social democratic political party in Mexico. The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 1986 from the Institut ...

. As the leader of the Morelos state legislature in 1995, Graco Ramirez led the first of several marches against then-governor

Jorge Carrillo Olea Jorge Carrillo Olea (born in Jojutla, Morelos, on November 19, 1937) is a Mexican politician and general, and a member of Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI. He served as governor of Morelos from October 1, 1994, to May 15, 1998. Early milit ...

because of alleged ties to drug trafficking and kidnapping. Carrillo was forced to resign in 1998. Graco Ramírez has served more than one term in the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of Congress. In 2006 he was elected senator, hence he served in the

of Congress during the LX and LXI Legislatures (2006–2012). As senator, he promoted laws to allow independent candidates and citizen initiatives and consultations. Graco Ramirez was elected

in 2012. As governor, Ramirez was known as a progressive who supported women's rights and scholarships for needy students. In an effort to combat high crime rates in the state, Graco initiated a police reform program called ''Mando Unico'' wherein all the state and local police forces were united under a single command. Despite a promising start, both poverty and crime increased in the state; the "Mando Unico" in particular was accused of numerous human rights violations, and it was seen as a political organism. In 2016 an audit of the state university, UAEM revealed a shortfall of millions of pesos. Governor Ramirez and Alejandro Vera, the rector of the university, mutually accused one another of deviating funds for other purposes. Faced with the loss of their pensions, faculty and staff went on strike; a student march was supported by the Catholic bishop, Ramon Castro Castro. Then, following the earthquake of September 19, 2017, Graco and his wife were accused of seizing much-needed humanitarian aid destined for earthquake victims. By February, 2018, the man once considered a leading candidate for President of Mexico was the least popular governor in the country. In a controversial move, Graco chose his stepson, Rodrigo Gayosso as PRD candidate for governor in 2018. Swept up in

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican politician who has been serving as the 65th president of Mexico since 1 December 2018. He previously served as Head of Government of Mexico ...

's wave, Cuernavaca mayor

Cuauhtémoc Blanco Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo (; born 17 January 1973) is a Mexican politician and former professional footballer who is the current Governor of Morelos under the coalition '' Juntos Haremos Historia''. He formerly served as the municipal president ...

of the

Juntos Haremos Historia Juntos Haremos Historia () was a Mexican political coalition encompassing the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), Labor Party (PT), and Social Encounter Party (PES), the latter of which was consequently absorbed into the National Regenerati ...

(Together we will make history) coalition won the election.

Criminal accusations

On February 13, 2019, Cuauhtemoc Blanco formally accused Graco Ramirez; his wife, Elena Cepeda; his stepson, Rodrigo Gayosso; and a notary public, Javier Barona; for the crimes of organized crime, operations with resources of illicit origin, and tax fraud. On September 27, 2019, the government of the state of Morelos formally solicited a political trial against Ramirez due to his refusal to provide the Attorney General and the Electoral Commission sufficient funds with which to operate. Although the Electoral Commission requested MXN $35 million for the 2018 election, Ramirez provided on MXN $18 million. '' El Universal'' reports that Ramirez is being investigated for deviating funds of MXN $100 million related to concerts by

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

Emmanuel Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the H ...

, and Mijares. There are receipts that show Sting was paid USD $2,000,000 for a concert, but he had been paid on USD $900,000 for a similar concert in

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...

, Chile. Blanco alleged in September 2020 that he had proof that Graco and Alberto Capella Ibarra had an agreement with organized crime while Ramírez Garrido Abreu was governor.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Graco Living people Party of the Democratic Revolution politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) People from Cuernavaca People from Morelos Governors of Morelos Politicians from Morelos Politicians from Tabasco People from Villahermosa 1949 births Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians Mexican Communist Party politicians Socialist Mexican Party politicians 20th-century Mexican politicians 21st-century Mexican politicians National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni