Víctor Manuel Camacho Solís (March 30, 1946 – June 5, 2015) was a Mexican politician who served in the cabinets of

presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *''Præsidenten ...

Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic an ...

and Carlos Salinas. Born in

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 ...

to Manuel Camacho López and Luz Solís, he belonged to the . At first he was affiliated with the PRI, later with the Party of the Democratic Center and then with 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 ...

Political career

Camacho Solís joined 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) in 1965, and in 1988 he became that party's general secretary. Camacho met Carlos Salinas 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), where they became close friends. Camacho followed Salinas's trajectory in the Planning Ministry under the administration of

. In 1985 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 ...

, and in 1986 he was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Urban Development. When Salinas took over the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

in 1988, Camacho was appointed Head of Government of the Federal District (1988–1993), an important political post with jurisdiction over the nation's capital. In 1997, the post became elective. He was a contender within the PRI to be the presidential candidate, but Salinas chose Colosio instead. Salinas told Camacho that he would be appointed the Head of Government of the Federal District, a powerful post, but Camacho sought to be Minister of the Interior. Before he accepted the appointment, he made demands: complete control of the district attorney's office and the police, the right to participate in political reforms, and complete authority over the city, which Salinas acceded to. According to political scientist Jorge G. Castañeda, "Salinas ... perhaps did not realiz the danger of being suddenly left without an effective minister of the interior and with an overqualified mayor in charge of the country's main city." He became famous because he delivered 9000 millions (old pesos ) to Andrés Manuel López Obrador in order to take away the protest on the zocalo in 1992 in Mexico City. This money never was clarified by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, he took the decision for the final destination for this money.

The Zapatista uprising

On November 13, 1993, Camacho was designated Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Due to the Zapatista uprising,

Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) President of Mexico, presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tiju ...

's assassination in March 1994, and Camacho's failed attempt to clinch the party's presidential nomination, Camacho broke with the PRI. The complicated relationship between Camacho, Salinas, Colosio and

Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was the 61st president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Re ...

(who was selected to replace Colosio as the PRI's presidential candidate) was the source of many rumors surrounding Colosio's assassination. Salinas appointed Camacho as the negotiator for the government in peace talks with the Zapatistas. He resigned as Chiapas Peace Commissioner on 16 June 1994 claiming that the PRI presidential candidate, Zedillo, sabotaged his efforts.

Later career

During Zedillo's presidency, Camacho stayed away from politics until 1999 when he announced his candidacy for the presidency for the Party of the Democratic Center, a party that he had co-founded with

Marcelo Ebrard Marcelo Luis Ebrard Casaubón (; born 10 October 1959) is a Mexicans, Mexican politician who has served as the Secretariat of Economy, secretary of economy since 2024. He previously served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs (Mexico), Secretary of ...

. In 2003 he became a federal deputy in the Chamber of Deputies representing the

. He was selected to serve as a plurinominal deputy through an indirect election. In 2012 he was elected to the Senate. In 2004 he joined

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 political campaign. He wrote a column in the Mexico City daily '' El Universal''. He died in

on 5 June 2015, after a long battle with brain cancer.Fallece Manuel Camacho Solís
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camacho Solis, Manuel 1946 births 2015 deaths Secretaries of foreign affairs of Mexico Mexican people of Asturian descent Mexican people of Basque descent Candidates in the 2000 Mexican presidential election Politicians from Mexico City Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians Party of the Democratic Revolution politicians Deaths from brain cancer in Mexico 20th-century Mexican politicians Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Deputies of the LIX Legislature of Mexico