Francisco Barrio

Who is Francisco Barrio?

Francisco Javier Barrio Terrazas is a Mexican politician affiliated to the National Action Party. He is a former governor of Chihuahua and former secretary in the cabinet of President Vicente Fox.

Barrio was born in Satevo, Chihuahua, and received a bachelor's degree in accounting and an MBA from the Autonomous University of Chihuahua. He did some consulting and worked in the private sector before joining the local chapter of the National Action Party in 1983 and becoming its first member to ever win the mayorship of Juárez, Chihuahua.

He ran for governor in 1986 and lost against the PRI candidate, Fernando Baeza Meléndez, in one of the most controversial elections in the state's recent history. Six years later he made another attempt and won, ending more than 60 years of uninterrupted control of Chihuahua's governorship by members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. As a governor, he delivered mixed results and consequently the PRI regained control of the state at the end of his term. While governor of Chihuahua, hundreds of women were raped and murdered in Juarez. Barrio refused for years to mount an inquiry, and suggested the attacks were not surprising because the victims walked in dark places at night and wore provocative clothing.