Manuel Bartlett Díaz (born 23 February 1936) is a Mexican politician, and the current director of the public energy company CFE, and former

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

. Bartlett was elected to the Senate of the Republic for the 2000–2006 term, where he became known as one of the most staunch defenders of state ownership of electric utilities. On May 27, 2006, in view of the low possibility of

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) candidate

Roberto Madrazo The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

winning the Presidency, Bartlett declared that he would vote for

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 Mex ...

, then candidate for 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 ...

, to avoid a right-wing victory. Madrazo and the national leader of the PRI, Mariano Palacios, both condemned these declarations, and announced the possible expulsion of Bartlett from the party. Bartlett responded by continuing to speak out against both leaders. Since the 2006 election, Bartlett has aligned himself with López Obrador and his

Coalition for the Good of All The Coalition for the Good of All ( es, Coalición por el Bien de Todos) was a left-wing coalition created by the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), Convergence and the Labor Party (PT) to support Andrés Manuel López Obrador as a candid ...

. In 2012 he reentered national politics, being elected a senator for the left-wing Labor Party, in coalition with López Obrador's PRD. After López Obrador's election as Mexican president in 2018, he appointed Bartlett to become the CEO of

Comisión Federal de Electricidad The Comisión Federal de Electricidad ( en, Federal Electricity Commission) is the state-owned electric utility of Mexico, widely known as CFE. It is the country's dominant electric company, and the country's second most powerful state-owned comp ...

(CFE), the state-owned electric utility of Mexico, the country's second most powerful state-owned company after PEMEX. Bartlett has been described as a corrupt politician.

Controversy

In a 3-part article series, investigative journalist Charles Bowden offers eyewitness accounts of Bartlett's involvement (along with other senior Mexican political, law enforcement, security and military officials) in the decision to order the kidnap, torture and murder of American

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

officer Enrique S. "Kiki" Camarena in 1985 in order to shut down his successful campaign against the

Guadalajara Cartel The Guadalajara Cartel ( es, Cártel de Guadalajara) also known as The Federation ( es, La Federación, link=no) was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fo ...

. In these accounts, cartel figures repeatedly mention they expect Bartlett Díaz to one day become

President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...

, with the implication that they will prosper as a result. Earlier accounts claimed that DEA suspicions about Bartlett Díaz's involvement in the murder led to the ruling PRI party's refusal to consider him as a presidential candidate, leading to the selection of

Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician who served as 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), earlier in his career he wor ...

in Bartlett's place.

References

External links

La CFE de Bartlett se convierte en una máquina de control político en México
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Manuel 1936 births Governors of Puebla Living people Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians Mexican Secretaries of the Interior Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Politicians from Puebla Mexican people of Cornish descent 20th-century Mexican politicians 21st-century Mexican politicians People from Puebla (city) National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni National Autonomous University of Mexico faculty