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) is a state-level social democratic political party in Mexico (previously national, until 2024). The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 1986 from the Institu ...

(PRD) who was

Governor of Morelos The governor of Morelos was created with the state of Mexico in 1869. (:es:Territorio de Morelos, Morelos was a Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Territory from June 17, 1914, to February 5, 1917.) See also * List of Mexican state g ...

for the 2012–2018 term. He served in the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

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 ...

as senator representing the

State of Morelos Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capita ...

(2006–2012).

Personal life and education

Ramírez holds a

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

in law 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). He is the son of a member of the Mexican armed forces.

Political career

On several occasions, Ramirez stated that he was a leader of the student movement that culminated in the Tlatelolco massacre of October 2, 1968; at least one leader has challenged this assertion. Ramírez began his political career as an

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) member; he served as president of the PRI in Tabasco. He then joined the Workers' Socialist Party (PST). In July 1987, it was announced that a faction of the PST led by Ramírez would join the newly-founded

Mexican Socialist Party The Mexican Socialist 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 a ...

(PMS). The PMS dissolved in 1989 and he joined the

Party of the Democratic Revolution The Party of the Democratic Revolution (, , PRD) is a state-level social democracy, social democratic political party in Mexico (previously national, until 2024). The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 198 ...

. 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 mili ...

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 the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

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 former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...

's wave, Cuernavaca mayor

Cuauhtémoc Blanco Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo (; born 17 January 1973) is a Mexican politician and former professional footballer serving as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. He served as the Governor of Morelos from 2018 to 2024 under the coalition ''Juntos H ...

of the

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

(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 Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

Emmanuel Immanuel or Emmanuel (, "God swith us"; Koine Greek: ) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David. The Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 1:22 –23) interprets this as a prophecy of ...

, and

Mijares Mijares is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating popul ...

. 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 List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

, 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 1949 births National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Governors of Morelos Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians Workers' Socialist Party (Mexico) politicians Socialist Mexican Party politicians Party of the Democratic Revolution politicians Politicians from Morelos Politicians from Villahermosa People from Cuernavaca Deputies of the LI Legislature of Mexico Deputies of the LIII Legislature of Mexico Deputies of the LVI Legislature of Mexico