Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa. Photo: Criterio Hidalgo

PULSE NEWS MEXICO

Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa died on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at age 63 from unknown causes.

Barbosa, a leftist firebrand member of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party who came to office after a mysterious helicopter crash in late December 2018 killed Martha Erika Alonso, the woman who had run against him and won the election for that office, was renowned for his infamous declarations, including claiming that Alonso’s death was “God’s revenge” for having beat him at the polls and insisting in 2020 that covid-19 only infected the rich.

He also gained notoriety in March of this year when he dismissed the mass murder of nine people in the town of Atlixco because, in his words, they were not from his state, “and besides, they were drug traffickers.”

In 2013, his right leg was amputated after a diabetic crisis that kept him hospitalized for 20 days in an induced coma.

The condition also caused other health issues, such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular conditions and a loss of vision.

In 2018, Barbosa was nominated by Morena as a candidate for the Puebla governorship, but lost that election to Alonso, a member of the conservative National Acton Party (PAN).

In early 2019, an extraordinary election was held in Puebla, in which Barbosa was the winner.

He served as a federal deputy from 2000 to 2003 and a federal senator from 2012 to 2018.

Originally from Tehuacán, Puebla, Barbosa is survived by his wife Rosario and his two children Maria del Rosario and Miguel.