Raul Salinas Lozano (1917-2004) was a Mexican economist and politician, graduated from the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), who spent much of his life in different public positions, all of great importance, as a senator for Nuevo León under the government of Adolfo López Mateos, Delegate of the International Monetary Fund, President of the Cooperative Development Bank, President of the National Bank of Foreign Trade, Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, among others.
He also served as a professor at UNAM, teaching chairs of Economics and Administration, was a lecturer and author of some investigative articles published in important Mexican media..
In 1990, the University of the Americas conferred the Doctor honoris causa for its trajectory. He was the author of several articles in Mexican economic magazines and also recognized for being the father of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
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Salinas Lozano began her studies in Economics at UNAM. Subsequently, he completed a postgraduate degree at the American University of Washington and a master's degree at Harvard University, in Cambridge.
His time at Harvard was full of satisfaction as he managed to be the highest average of his generation. Passionate about economics, research and teaching, he was honored to receive from President Eisenhower the command bastion of his generation's marshal.
He also carried out several studies of fiscal policy in European countries such as Sweden, England and the Netherlands, which he would later apply in his country in different positions in banks and finance ministries..
Raúl Salinas married Margarita de Gortari Carvajal, one of the first Mexican economists, a member of institutions such as the Association of Women Economists of Mexico and who accompanied him throughout his life until his death in 1992. He shared his passion with his wife for teaching.
The love for the profession of Salinas and his wife was reflected years later when, when they were older, one of their sons reached the highest office in the nation, the presidency: Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
Salinas had five children with Margarita: Adriana, Sergio, Raúl, Enrique and Carlos. He was a calm person who, above all, always sought to spend time with his family.
Salinas Lozano combined public administration with teaching and research. As a result of the years dedicated to researching his favorite topics in economics, several of the articles were published in specialized journals such as The Economic Quarter Y Journal of Economics.
He also enjoyed teaching, giving various chairs such as Economic Theory, Development Theory and Political Thought at different universities; the University of San Salvador, UNAM, the Ibero-American University, where he taught Economic Problems, and at the National Institute of Public Administration, where he dictated Economic Development of Mexico.
As a result of his research and work as a professor, in 1990 the University of the Americas awarded him the Doctor honoris causa, a question that affirmed the solidity of so many years dedicated to teaching both in classrooms and in written articles.
These activities, although they served his students and specialists, were far from the many needs of the people, a path he traveled years later, making the leap from public administration to politics, as senator.
Among the most outstanding positions of Salinas Lozano in Mexico are the following: Senator (1982-1988), Ambassador to the USSR, head and director of Economic Studies in the Ministry of Finance, Delegate of Mexico in the International Monetary Fund and the Bank World Development. In 1940, he joined the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and later opted for his presidency but could not obtain it..
He was also an advisor to several public and private institutions and General Director of the Mexican Institute of Foreign Trade between 1980 and 1982. It was common for several Central American universities to call him to give lectures during these years on topics in which Salinas was a specialist: economics and administration..
In an interview for the program Foro, on Televisa Monterrey, he affirmed how many people asked him to make the leap from teaching to politics. For him, good politics should lead to making correct decisions that benefit the community in general, Mexicans, the largest number of people..
When it comes to negotiations with companies, equally that they can benefit the country and families in the long term.
In his eagerness to solve everyday problems of Mexicans, Raúl Salinas was a member, among others, of institutions such as the League of Revolutionary Economists, of Chilpancingo, created in 1979, an institution that sought to analyze economic and social problems, and propose specific solutions in seminars, congresses and round tables.
Also noteworthy is having been the founder of the Javier Barros Sierra Foundation, created in 1975, oriented from science and technology to the prospect of economic and social development in Mexico..
Raúl Salinas was widowed some years before his death. Margarita passed away in 1992 and Salinas in 2004, at the age of 87. The cause of his death was a complication of an old pulmonary emphysema, which would end up causing pneumonia.
He was able to rest and spend the last moments surrounded by all his family members, as former President Carlos Salinas explained to the media a day after the death of his father..
Several personalities of Mexican politics came to the family home to express their condolences, including the Governor of the State of Mexico, Arturo Montiel.
Roberto Madrazo, leader of the PRI, party in which Salinas was a member, was present and who said that he had been a man loyal to his country and therefore regretted his death.
Oil leaders and former government secretaries also ruled regardless of whether they were from political parties not related to the PRI. The ashes of Raúl Salinas rest next to those of his wife Margarita de Gortari, in the house on Calle Arbol de Fuego, in Coyoacán.
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