Emilio Álvarez Icaza Longoria (born 31 March 1965) is a Mexican human rights ombudsman and activist serving as a senator in the LXIV Legislature of the Mexican Congress from

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. He previously served as the president of the

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese language, Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des ...

Life and political career

Álvarez Icaza was born on 31 March 1965 in Mexico City, Mexico. Álvarez Icaza holds a degree in sociology from the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM) and a master's degree in social sciences from the Latin American Social Sciences Institute. From 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1999, he worked at the Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social, becoming its leader from August 1994 to January 1999. In 1999, he became one of the first electoral councilors of the new Instituto Electoral del Distrito Federal. Two years later, he was elected to head the (CDHDF), serving two four-year terms. Álvarez Icaza has taught graduate courses at various schools, including the UNAM,

Universidad Iberoamericana The Ibero-American University (), also referred to by its acronym ''UIA'' but commonly known as ''Ibero'' or ''La Ibero'', is a private, Catholic, Mexican higher education institution, sponsored by the Mexican province of the Society of Jesus ( ...

, and the Center for Humanities Teaching and Studies of the State of Morelos. Álvarez Icaza is also a member of the ''Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity'', who were organizers of the main protests during the 15 October Movement.

President of the IACHR

On 19 July 2012, Álvarez Icaza was chosen to be the executive secretary of the

(IACHR) for a four-year term, taking the post on 16 August. While serving on the IACHR, the Procuraduría General de la República opened an investigation against him for alleged misuse of funds given by the Mexican government to the IACHR to finance its activities relating to the Ayotzinapa mass disappearance; the investigation was ultimately abandoned. In 2016, he was replaced by Paulo Abrão of Brazil.

''Ahora'' movement and presidential bid

On 27 February 2017, Álvarez Icaza announced he was launching a political movement in Mexico City, known as ''Ahora'' (Now), initially intending to put citizen candidates on the ballot in 2018 and as a vehicle for an independent presidential bid. That October, citing the outcome of the State of Mexico election earlier that year, he withdrew his candidacy, worried that the election had been too similar to that of 1988 and declaring that he "would not be useful to the PRI," like other independent candidates who he claimed had their candidacies secretly supported by the presidency.

2018 Senate candidacy

In March 2018, Álvarez Icaza announced that Ahora would back the Por México al Frente coalition, including presidential candidate Ricardo Anaya Cortés, and that the movement would run legislative candidates in the coalition, with three candidates for the Senate and five for the Chamber of Deputies. Álvarez joined the PAN- PRD- MC Senate ticket for Mexico City alongside Xóchitl Gálvez. The ticket finished second in the election, giving Álvarez a seat as the first minority senator. On 23 August 2018, Álvarez Icaza announced he would serve as an independent senator and not join the caucuses of any of the parties that ran him for Senate, noting that he is not a member of any of them; additionally, the other Ahora candidates elected, Ana Lucía Riojas Martínez and Carlos Morales Vázquez, would enter the legislature as independents, though they ran on the PRD and PAN lists, respectively.

Personal life

Álvarez Icaza is married and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez Icaza, Emilio Mexican sociologists Living people Human rights in Latin America 1965 births National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) for Mexico City Senators of the LXIV and LXV Legislatures of Mexico