Eligio Esquivel Méndez (31 October 1908 – 17 December 1964) was a Mexican politician and engineer who served as the

Governor of Baja California The governor of Baja California represents the executive branch of the government of the state of Baja California, Mexico, per the state's constitution. The official title is "Free and Sovereign State of Baja California" (''Estado Libre y Soberan ...

from 1959 to 1964.

Biography

Eligio Esquivel Méndez was born in

Mérida, Yucatán Mérida (, ) is the capital of the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the Mérida Municipality, eponymous municipality. It is located slightly inland fro ...

. He studied 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 ...

, where he earned a

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

degree in 1933. He was selected by president

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

to head a commission providing technical support to various

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n countries. While working with the commission, he was honored by the government of

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

upon the completion of the dam creating La Angostura Lake in the

Cochabamba Department Cochabamba (, , ), from Quechua ''qucha'' or ''qhucha'', meaning "lake", ''pampa'' meaning "plain", is one of the nine departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the " granary" of the country because of its variety of agricultural products from ...

of that country. He directed the construction of the

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 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Mun ...

and Matamoros dams in Mexico. In 1943, he assumed management of the Colorado River Irrigation District, a position he held until 1957. He also participated in the construction of the Matamoros and Galeana

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

s. He was elected as the second governor of the state of Baja California and took office in November 1959. Esquivel was a member of 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) and was backed by term-limited incumbent governor Braulio Maldonado. The election was marked by protests as members of the opposition party, the National Action Party (PAN), accused the PRI of

vote rigging Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

. As governor, he made efforts to revitalize the border town of

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

, which had gained a reputation for vice. He was also known for his work with hydraulic infrastructure, which addressed the serious problem of soil salinization in the Mexicali Valley. He died in office of an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while visiting

El Centro, California El Centro ( Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the most populous city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core ...

and was succeeded by interim governor Gustavo Aubanel Vallejo.

References

External links

Governors of Baja California
, Gobierno del Estado de Baja California {{DEFAULTSORT:Esquivel Méndez, Eligio 1908 births 1964 deaths Governors of Baja California Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians Mexican civil engineers National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Politicians from Baja California 20th-century Mexican politicians Politicians from Mérida, Yucatán