Ernesto Zedillo

Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León was born on 27 December 1951 in Mexico City. His parents were Rodolfo Zedillo Castillo, a mechanic, and Martha Alicia Ponce de León. Seeking better job and education opportunities for their children, his parents moved to Mexicali, Baja California.

In 1964, at the age of 13, he returned to Mexico City. In 1969, he entered the National Polytechnic Institute, financing his studies by working in the National Army and Navy Bank (later known as Banjército). He graduated as an economist in 1972 and began lecturing. It was among his first group of students that he met his wife, Nilda Patricia Velasco, with whom he has five children: Ernesto, Emiliano, Carlos (formerly married to orchestra conductor Alondra de la Parra), Nilda Patricia and Rodrigo.

In 1974, he pursued his master's and PhD studies at Yale University. His doctoral thesis was titled Mexico's Public External Debt: Recent History and Future Growth Related to Oil.

Corporate boards

Alcoa, Member of the Board of Directors

Citigroup, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2010)

Coca-Cola, Member of the International Advisory Board

Electronic Data Systems, Member of the Board of Directors

Stonebridge International, Member of the Board of Advisors

Procter & Gamble, Member of the Board of Directors (2001-2019)

Union Pacific Corporation, Member of the Board of Directors (2001-2006)

Political career

Zedillo began working in the Bank of Mexico (Mexico's central bank) as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, where he supported the adoption of macroeconomic policies for the country's improvement. By 1987, he was named deputy secretary of Planning and Budget Control in the Secretariat of Budget and Planning. In 1988, at the age of 38, he headed that secretariat. During his term as Secretary, Zedillo launched a Science and Technology reform and served in this capacity for three years until December 1991.

In 1992, he was appointed Secretary of Education by President Carlos Salinas. During his tenure in this post, he was in charge of the revision of Mexican public school textbooks. The changes, which took a softer line on foreign investment and the Porfiriato, among other topics, were highly controversial, and the textbooks were withdrawn. A year later, he resigned to run the electoral campaign of Luis Donaldo Colosio, the PRI's presidential candidate.

Lawsuit in the U.S. by indigenous Mexican plaintiffs

According to a 2012 Economist article, a group of ten anonymous Tzotzil people claiming to be survivors of the Acteal massacre have taken an opportunity to sue former President Zedillo in a civil court in Connecticut, "seeking about $50 million and a declaration of guilt against Mr Zedillo". The victims of the massacre were members of an indigenous rights group known as Las Abejas; however, the current president of that organization, Porfirio Arias, claims that the alleged victims were not residents of Acteal at all. This has led commentators to allege the trial to be politically motivated, perhaps by a member of his own political party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, angry about Zedillo's reforms that led to the party losing power in the 2000 Mexican presidential election, after 71 years of continuous political rule.

The United States Department of State recommended that President Zedillo be granted immunity from prosecution due to the actions occurring as part of his official capacity as head of state. This motion is not binding in the US court system, but judges "generally side with the State Department".

The plaintiffs, who are being represented by Rafferty, Kobert, Tenenholtz, Bounds & Hess, may appeal the ruling of U.S. District Judge Michael Shea to sidestep the immunity Zedillo has been granted.

In 2014, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a case against Zedillo on grounds of "sovereign immunity" as a former head of state by survivors of the Acteal massacre.