Fidel Herrera Beltrán (7 March 1949 – 2 May 2025) was a Mexican politician and lawyer affiliated with the

Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party (, , PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 as the National Revolutionary Party (, PNR), then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (, PRM) and fin ...

(PRI). He served as the governor of the state of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

from 2004 to 2010.

Career

Herrera Beltrán was born in

Nopaltepec, Veracruz Nopaltepec is a town in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located in the municipality of Cosamaloapan. It was the birthplace of Fidel Herrera Beltrán, who served as governor of Veracruz The governor, according to the Political Constituti ...

, in 1949. He attended law school at 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) in Mexico City, where he graduated in 1971, and was a lawyer by profession. A member of

(PRI), he was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

on four occasions: in 1973, to the 49th Congress for Veracruz's 12th district (

Cosamaloapan Cosamaloapan is a city and municipality located along the Papaloapan river in the central part of the Mexican state of Veracruz, about 240 km from Xalapa, the state capital. It has a surface of 323.26 km2. It is located at . The poet Manue ...

); in 1979, to the 51st Congress for Veracruz's 16th ( Pánuco); in 1991, to the

55th Congress The 55th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1897, ...

for Veracruz's 12th (Cosamaloapan); and in 1997, to the 57th Congress for Veracruz's 14th ( Boca del Río). In the 2000 general election he was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for Veracruz. He was elected

governor of Veracruz The governor, according to the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave in Mexico, the Executive Power is invested in one individual, called "''Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sov ...

in 2004 and resigned his Senate seat on 2 September 2004. In 2013, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine named Herrera as one of the 10 most corrupt Mexican politicians, citing his alleged links to the

Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate and designated terrorist organization, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent " shock and awe" tactics suc ...

drug-trafficking cartel. He was appointed to serve as consul in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 2015 but resigned that position in 2017 amid accusations that during his governorship state-run hospitals had used

distilled water Distilled water is water that has been purified by boiling it into vapor then condensing it back into liquid in a separate container. Impurities in the original water that do not boil below or near the boiling point of water remain in the origin ...

in lieu of medicines to treat sick children and had conducted fake HIV tests.

Death

Herrera died in Mexico City on 2 May 2025, at the age of 76.

References

External links

Official biography (Spanish)
1949 births 2025 deaths Governors of Veracruz Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Politicians from Veracruz National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics 21st-century Mexican politicians Deputies of the XLIX Legislature of Mexico Deputies of the LI Legislature of Mexico Deputies of the LV Legislature of Mexico Deputies of the LVII Legislature of Mexico {{Mexico-deputy-InstitutionalRevolutionary-1940s-stub