Ricardo Monreal Ávila

Ricardo Monreal Ávila (Fresnillo, Zacatecas; September 19, 1960) is a Mexican academic, lawyer and politician. He was head of the Cuauhtémoc delegation of Mexico City for the Movement National Regeneration (Morena) from 2014 to December 2017. He began his political career in 1975 in the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI); Then, between 1998 and 2004, he was governor of the state of Zacatecas for the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and, later, he was involved with the Labor Party (PT) coordinating the presidential campaign of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Since From September 1, 2018 until June 16, 2023, he served as senator of the Republic for the National List and served as president of the Political Coordination Board (JUCOPO) of the Senate.

Biography

He was born on September 19, 1960 in Plateros, Zacatecas, into a family of fourteen children. His parents were Felipe Monreal Huerta and Catalina Ávila Alvarado.

He studied Law at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas and then completed master's and doctoral studies in Constitutional and Administrative Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

As a university professor, he has taught the subjects of Agrarian Law, Administrative Law, Commercial Law, Electoral Law and Municipal Law.

Beginnings in political life

In 1975 he began his political career as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), where he held several positions: he was national coordinator of the Legal Defense of the Vote in the Election Secretariat of the national leadership; He chaired the State Steering Committee of Zacatecas and, later, was secretary of Political Action of the National Peasant Confederation. In this period of militancy he participated in the Congress of the Union, was a federal deputy twice (1988-1991 and 1997-1998) and reached the position of senator (1991-1997).

Governor of the state of Zacatecas

In 1998, Monreal Ávila left the PRI to join the ranks of the PRD and run, that same year, for the governorship of the state of Zacatecas.

During this electoral campaign, Monreal began as an extraterritorial political subject and gained followers among the Zacatecan political class based in the United States, a fact that impelled him to promote the vote of Mexicans abroad and the protection of rights labor rights of Mexican migrants. In 2004 he created the Migrant Assistance Commission. Monreal Ávila won the elections and held the position of governor until 2004.

In 1999, a year after his election, TIME magazine and the CNN en Español television network considered him among the 50 Latin American leaders who would stand out at the beginning of the third millennium.

As governor he promoted various social, economic and cultural policies through the creation of programs and promulgation of laws, such as the Law of the Youth Institute of the State of Zacatecas, promulgated on January 11, 2003 through the LVII Zacatecas Legislature, with the intention of incorporating youth into the active life of the region. Also, on June 29, 2004, with the purpose of promoting policies that deal with the public fact, both in labor, social development and the resolution of poverty problems, the government of Monreal Ávila created the Development Law Social for the State of Zacatecas which also deals with health care, education, food and housing, and proposes the integration of the public and private sectors.

Federal representative

He was a federal deputy in three periods: from 1988 to 1991 and from 1997 to 1998 for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and between 2012 and 2015 for the Citizen Movement and the National Regeneration Movement (Morena).

In 1998, during his last phase as a deputy for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and given the party's rejection of his registration as a pre-candidate for the governorship of Zacatecas, Monreal decided to abandon the PRI and form an alliance with the PRD.

As a deputy, Monreal designed initiatives on economic and social issues, in attention to vulnerable groups, gender equality, education, work and social security, energy, justice, health and children's rights. He also continued with his work in the politics of the rights of Mexican migrants, which resulted in reforms to articles 47 of the General Education Law and 18 of the Migration Law.

Senator

He served as senator in two periods, from 1991 to 1997 and from 2006 to 2012 for the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the Labor Party (PT).

Being a senator, from the Congress of the Union, he was appointed Vice Coordinator of the Parliamentary Fraction of the PRD. Then, in 2008, after his departure from the PRD, he was appointed Coordinator of the Parliamentary Group of the PT. In that period he was an author of several initiatives and legislative projects of various kinds, such as the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission bill. At the same time, he continued his work as a deputy in social and political matters.

In 2018, by multi-member route, he was again elected Senator of the Republic, where he held the position of Coordinator of the Morenista Caucus in the Senate.

2012 federal election

For the 2012 federal election, he was appointed general coordinator of the presidential campaign by the Progressive Movement Coalition, whose candidate was Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Once the election day was over and the results were known, Monreal Ávila denounced that there was a violation of the right to vote freely and that the electoral process in Mexico did not obey the principles of legality, impartiality, objectivity, certainty and professionalism in electoral matters., and that it was not an equitable contest due to excessive spending on the campaign of former president Enrique Peña Nieto.

Delegation Head

After being nominated as head of the Cuauhtémoc delegation by the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), Monreal Ávila won the electoral victory, assuming office before the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District on October 1, 2015.

As stipulated in the Delegational Development Program directed by Monreal Ávila:

The Delegational Development Program in Cuauhtémoc 2013-2015 is structured in six strategic axes guided by a public policy that promotes the necessary conditions for the full exercise of fundamental social rights, based on social inclusion, equality and social equity.

Under his administration, the Cuauhtémoc delegation obtained recognition for being the best delegation administration with a humanistic sense and close to the population of Mexico City, awarded by the Association of Businessmen and Sister Cities in April 2017.

In December 2017, Ricardo Monreal Ávila presented a definitive license to the position of delegation head. He assured that all the works approved during his administration will be completed and that he will dedicate himself to supporting Andrés Manuel López Obrador's national project.

Coordination of the Defense Committees of the Fourth Transformation

On June 16, 2023, and after having separated from his position as Senator of the Republic, Monreal Ávila confirmed his registration as a candidate for Coordinator of the Defense Committees of the Fourth Transformation and, thus, being the eventual candidate of MORENA to the Presidency of the Republic.

However, after ten weeks of the process, his average result in the five surveys carried out was only 5.9% of the preferences, being the candidate with the lowest votes obtained of the six.

Published books

• - (2019). Reform to the Mexican financial system: a vision for the future. Porrúa.
• - (2019). China. Country in boiling.
• - (2019). Women ' s access to justice. Porrúa.
• - (2018). Challenges. The Senate in the Fourth Transformation. D3 Editions.
• - (2018). Electoral penalties and procedures. D3 Editions.
• - (2017). A metropolitan vision. Project 2.5. Processes.
• - (2017). Charity and philanthropy, millionaire business. D3 Editions.
• - (2017). The economy of crime. Create Independentspace Publishing Platform.
• - (2015). Rescuemos Cuauhtémoc.
• - (2015). To err is human, to rectify is politics.
• - (2014). Structural reforms. Myths and realities. Porrúa.
• - (2014). 100 years from the take of Zacatecas 1914-2014. D3 Editions.
• - (2013). The long journey.
• - (2013). Death squads in Mexico.
• - (2010). Bi-Centenary, the celebration. Nothing to celebrate.
• - (2006). The fraud you didn't see. Chronicles of usurped sovereignty.
• - (2005). Bernalejo de la Sierra: chronicle of a strip.
• - (2004). Origin, Evolution and Perspective of Mexican Federalism. Porrúa.