Francisco Luna Kan

Who is Francisco Luna Kan?

Dr. Francisco Epigmenio Luna Kan is a Mexican politician. Francisco Luna Kan was governor of the state of Yucatán from 1976 to 1982.

Born in Mérida, Yucatán, he was a practicing doctor of medicine then taught as a Professor of Medicine before his political offices, his first being overseer of the state's rural medical system.

Francisco Luna Kan was the first person of pure Maya ancestry to govern Yucatán since the Spanish conquest of Yucatán. For centuries the political elite had been Criollos. It was widely said that party officials of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party took the unusual step of selecting a person of Maya descent as their candidate in 1975 because the opposition National Action Party had been getting many votes in Yucatán, and PRI candidates had been getting a poor showing in the state's predominantly Maya towns and villages. It was said that PAN got the majority of votes in the previous governor's race, and the PRI managed to maintain control of the state only through fraud in counting votes.

Shortly after his election Luna Kan was subjected to an unpleasant incident while taking a train to Mexico City for a governmental conference.