Joel Molina Ramírez
Joel Molina Ramírez (1 November 1942 – 24 October 2020) was a Mexican politician and senator representing the state of Tlaxcala from the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party. He served in the LXIV Legislature of the Mexican Congress from February 2019 until his death in office from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico in October 2020, seven days short from his 78th birthday.
Joel Molina Ramírez | |
|---|---|
| Senator for Tlaxcala | |
| In office 28 February 2019 – 24 October 2020 Serving with A. Rivera and M. Hernández | |
| Preceded by | José Antonio Álvarez Lima |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 November 1942 Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico |
| Died | 24 October 2020 (aged 77) Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico |
| Political party | MORENA |
| Occupation | Teacher |
Life edit
Molina was born 1 November 1942,[1] in Ixtacuixtla[2] and graduated from the Evening Normal School.[3]
Previously the chief of finances, then the local leader, of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación teachers' union in the late 1970s,[3] Molina—then a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party—was elected to the Congress of Tlaxcala in 1980, serving a three-year term; he then became the municipal president of Ixtacuixtla between 1986 and 1988.[3] He worked in several state government positions and served as the president of the Tlaxcala Electoral Institute between 1994 and 1996.[3]
Molina was named secretary of education in the Tlaxcala state government in 1997,[4] during the administration of José Antonio Álvarez Lima.[5]
After decades in the PRI, he switched and became a founding member of MORENA;[6] in 2016, he served as a coordinator for Martha Palafox Gutiérrez's gubernatorial campaign.[4] By 2020, he was serving as the interim director of the MORENA party in Tlaxcala.[7]
Senate edit
Molina was elected as the alternate senator to Álvarez Lima in 2018. However, Álvarez Lima was immediately appointed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to head public television station Canal Once.[8] On 28 February 2019, Molina was sworn in.[4] He was a contender for the Morena nomination in the 2021 Tlaxcala gubernatorial election,[9] despite his advanced age and having undergone previous surgeries.[10]
In October 2020, Molina contracted COVID-19 and was admitted to an ISSSTE hospital in Tlaxcala. He died on 24 October,[2][11] making him the first senator to die of the disease.[6] It was revealed before his death that he had been in the chamber as late as 20 October, for a 12-hour session to vote on the dissolution of various government trusts, during which senators passed around microphones.[12] His death prompted Álvarez Lima to announce that he would resign from Canal Once and return to the Senate in the second half of November, after a new director for the television channel was appointed.[13]
References edit
- ^ Oaxaca, Diego (24 October 2020). "Muere por Covid-19 el senador Joel Molina Ramírez" [Senator Joel Molina Ramírez dies of COVID-19]. E-Tlaxcala. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
Molina Ramírez tenía 77 años de edad y el primero de novimbre cumpliría un año más de vida.
- ^ a b Flores Becerril, Andrea; Avendaño, José Carlos (24 October 2020). "Fallece senador de Morena Joel Molina Ramírez por Covid-19" (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ a b c d . Política Tlaxcala. 21 April 2019. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ a b c . Sistema de Información Legislativa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ Morales, Moisés (24 October 2020). "Muere senador Joel Molina en hospital ISSSTE de Tlaxcala". El Sol de Tlaxcala (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ a b Figueroa, Héctor (24 October 2020). "Fallece primer senador de Covid-19, tras brote en el Senado". Excélsior (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ Romero, Aldo (30 September 2020). "Asegura Joel Molina no hacer mal uso del presupuesto de Morena en Tlaxcala". Quadratín (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ Moreno, Teresa (5 March 2019). "José Antonio Álvarez Lima, nuevo director de Canal Once". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ "López Obrador lamenta fallecimiento de senador de Morena, Joel Molina". El Heraldo de México (in Spanish). 24 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ Sierra, Pedro (25 August 2020). "Joel Molina se niega a renunciar a los 17.3 millones de pesos de MORENA". E-Tlaxcala (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ Morales, Alberto; Arvizu, Juan (24 October 2020). "Muere el senador de Morena, Joel Molina, por Covid". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ "Joel Molina participó en larga sesión del Senado días antes de morir por Covid-19" [Joel Molina participated in long Senate session days before dying of COVID-19]. El Universal (in Spanish). 24 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ Tenahua Ramos, Adolfo (28 October 2020). "José Antonio Álvarez Lima dejará Canal 11 y regresará al Senado" [José Antonio Álvarez Lima will leave Canal 11 and return to the Senate]. Milenio (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 6 November 2020.