César Horacio Duarte Jáquez (born April 14, 1963) is a Mexican politician, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, who has twice been a federal deputy. He was president of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico from 2008 to 2009,[1] while representing Chihuahua's ninth district, and he served as governor of Chihuahua for the period 2010 to 2016.[2] César Duarte is currently under investigation for corruption and an arrest warrant against him and other close members of his government was issued on March 27, 2017.[3] According to the Financial Times in 2018, he was "believed to be in Texas".[4] He was arrested in Miami, United States, in July 2020.[5]

César Duarte Jáquez
Governor of Chihuahua
In office
4 October 2010 – 4 October 2016
Preceded byJosé Reyes Baeza Terrazas
Succeeded byJavier Corral Jurado
President of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
1 September 2008 – 31 August 2009
Preceded byRuth Zavaleta Salgado
Succeeded byFrancisco Javier Ramírez Acuña
Deputy of the Congress of the Union
for the 9th district of Chihuahua
In office
1 September 2006 – 31 August 2009
Preceded byJesús Aguilar Bueno
Succeeded byLuis Carlos Campos Villegas
Personal details
Born (1963-04-14) 14 April 1963 (age 61)
Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua
Political partyPRI
SpouseBerta Olga Gomez Fong
ProfessionLawyer

Personal life and education

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César Duarte Jáquez was born in Hidalgo de Parral, Chihuahua, in April 1963. He studied at the Universidad del Valle de México and became a lawyer.[6]

Career

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Duarte Jáquez joined the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 1977 and became a municipal and state advisor to PRI. He became general secretary and president of the municipality of Hidalgo del Parral.[6]

He became head of the Confederación Nacional Campesina [es] (National Farmers' Confederation) of Chihuahua and secretary of the organization's executive board.[6]

Duarte Jáquez went on to become an at-large deputy in the Congress of Chihuahua (September 1, 2000 – August 31, 2003), deputy from the 9th District (September 1, 2006 – August 31, 2009), and president of the Chamber of Deputies (September 1, 2008 – August 31, 2009).[6] He was governor of Chihuahua from October 4, 2010, to October 3, 2016, after which he was accused of peculation of MXN $275 million.[6] He was expelled from PRI in January 2019.[6]

His government investigated the 2013 Chihuahua monster truck accident.[citation needed]

Accusations

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Duarte Jáquez is accused of owning 50 different properties possibly acquired with public monies, with a value of US$200 million, in the United States. This is in addition to the 21 pieces of property—ranches, cattle, and machinery worth between MXN $1 billion and $1.2 billion—already seized in Mexico. The total fraud may amount to MXN $6 billion (US$267,500,000).[7]

As of January 21, 2021, Duarte was being held in a prison in the U.S. state of Florida. Authorities and politicians (primarily members of the National Action Party in Chihuahua) would like to see him tried locally, particularly in light of accusations by Duarte's former Treasury Secretary, Jaime Herrera, revealed that he was personally responsible for handing out bribes to PRI loyalists.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Gómez, Ricardo; Horacio Jiménez (2008-08-28). "Rinde protesta Mesa Directiva en San Lázaro". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  2. ^ "Toma protesta César Duarte como gobernador de Chihuahua" (in Spanish). Grupo Editorial Milenio. 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  3. ^ Chihuahua, El Diario de. "Giran orden de aprehensión vs César Duarte".
  4. ^ Webber, Jude (April 1, 2018). "Mexico: The electoral price of impunity". Financial Times. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  5. ^ Fagenson, Zachary; Oré, Diego (8 July 2020). "Fugitive former Mexican governor arrested in Miami". Reuters. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "César Duarte Jáquez: quién es y por qué fue detenido". www.milenio.com. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  7. ^ "Calculan en 200 mdd las propiedades de Cesar Duarte". www.msn.com. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  8. ^ "Ex secretario de César Duarte reconoció su participación en red de sobornos". infobae (in Spanish). Infobae. January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021. Durante ese tiempo quien era gobernador del estado ordenó entregar pagos a diversas personas, siempre orientado a lograr el control de las instituciones y lograr beneficios económicos y políticos para él y muchos otros servidores públicos de aquella época.