Juan Francisco Molinar Horcasitas (18 December 1955 – 20 May 2015) was a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

politician and academic. A member of the National Action Party (''Partido Acción Nacional, PAN''), he served as a federal deputy and, between 2 December 2006 and 2 March 2009, director of the

Mexican Social Security Institute The Mexican Institute of Social Security (, IMSS) is a Federal government of the United Mexican States, governmental organization that assists public health, pensions and social security in Mexico operating under the Secretariat of Health (Mexic ...

. President

Felipe Calderón Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (; born 18 August 1962) is a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the 63rd president of Mexico from 2006 to 2012 and Secretary of Energy during the presidency of Vicente Fox between 2003 and 2004. ...

appointed Molinar Secretary of Communications and Transport on 3 March 2009. He replaced Luis Tellez in this post following the release of recordings of Téllez criticizing former president

Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexicans, Mexican economist, historían and former politician who served as the 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Considered the frontman of Mexican Neoliberalism by formulating, p ...

Academic career

Molinar completed his undergraduate studies in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

in the Acatlan National School of Professional Studies of 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 ...

. He attained a master's degree in political science from

El Colegio de México El Colegio de México, A.C. (commonly known as Colmex, English: The College of Mexico) is a Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in social sciences and humanities. The college was founded in 1940 by the Me ...

and became a PhD candidate in the same field at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1991, he published ''The time of Legitimacy: elections, authoritarianism and democracy in Mexico''. He was a member of the National System of Researchers. He has taught at El Colegio de México, the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. Among his publications in academic journals are ''Counting the Number of Parties: An Alternative Index'', published in the

American Political Science Review The ''American Political Science Review'' (''APSR'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf ...

, as well as ''Schools of interpretation of the Mexican political system'', ''1988 Elections in Mexico: the crisis of authoritarianism'', written with Jeffrey Weldon, and ''Electoral Processes in Mexico'', written with Alvaro Arreola Ayala and published in the ''Revista Mexicana de Sociología''. In all he published 30 articles in books and magazines in Mexico, the United States and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He worked in news media such as ''Multivision To Start'' and the newspapers

Reforma Reforma, the Spanish word meaning reform, has the following meanings: Companies and organizations * ''Reforma'' (newspaper), a daily published in Mexico City :* Grupo Reforma, parent company of the newspaper :* Agencia Reforma, news wire agenc ...

and El Universal.

Civil Service and political career

Molinar began his career as a polling representative in the presidential elections of 1976, won by

José López Portillo José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco (; 16 June 1920 – 17 February 2004) was a Mexican writer, lawyer, and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th president of Mexico from 1976 ...

unopposed. In 1987 he published an article in ''

Nexos ''Nexos'' is a cultural and political magazine based in Mexico City, Mexico. History and profile ''Nexos'' was founded in 1978. The founders were a group of Intellectuals headed by Héctor Aguilar Camín. The magazine modeled on the ''New York Re ...

'' magazine about

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

in elections in Chihuahua. He was Director of Privileges for Political Parties at the

Federal Electoral Institute The Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) (Spanish for ''National Electoral Institute'') (formerly Federal Electoral Institute) (, IFE) is an autonomous, public agency responsible for organizing federal elections in Mexico, that is, those relat ...

(IFE) for the 1994 general election, and on 29 October 1996 he was elected IFE's Director General of the Electoral Council, a post he held until the year 2000. He shared duties with other directors like Alonso Lujambio, Maurice Murphy, Jacqueline Peschard, Emilio Zebadua and the Executive President,

José Woldenberg Isaac José Woldenberg Karakowski (born 8 September 1952) is a Mexican political scientist and sociologist who served as the first president of the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) and currently works as director of ''Nexos'' magazine. Early l ...

. Between December 2000 and May 2002 he served as Undersecretary of Political Development in the Interior Ministry, where the Secretary was

Santiago Creel Santiago Creel Miranda (; born on 11 December 1954) is a Mexican lawyer and politician, and a member of the National Action Party (PAN). Since 1 September 2021, he has been a federal deputy and the current president of the Congress of the Uni ...

. He was spokesman for the National Action Party (PAN) in January and July 2003. Later, during the 59th Legislature he was a

Federal Deputy A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-national ...

and served as Co-ordinator for Economic Affairs of the Parliamentary Group of the National Action Party. He co-ordinated research and policy analysis during the presidential campaign of

and, once the electoral process was completed, he joined the transition team of the president-elect. Calderón appointed Molinar director of the

(IMSS), relieving Fernando Flores y Perez. In April 2007 he intervened in a dispute over

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. Although the Federal District Legislative Assembly decriminalized abortion 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 ...

in the first twelve weeks of gestation, Molinar declined to provide that service in the clinics of the institute he headed. This has raised criticism from some lawyers and constitutionalists. Molinar was also the director of IMSS on 5 June

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

at the time of the 2009 Hermosillo daycare center fire in which 44 toddlers and infants were killed.

Death

Molinar died in Mexico City on May 20, 2015, from

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

References

External links

Semblanza de Juan Molinar Horcasitas en la página oficial de la Presidencia de México
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molinar Horcasitas, Juan 2015 deaths Secretaries of communications and transportation of Mexico Mexican economists Neurological disease deaths in Mexico Deaths from motor neuron disease 1955 births Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico