Ex-Mexican President Portillo Dies at 83

[La_Serpiente]

Ex-Mexican President Portillo Dies at 83

MEXICO CITY - Former President Jose Lopez Portillo, who governed Mexico through an oil-driven boom to a debt-induced bust, has died of complications from pneumonia. He was 83.

Lopez Portillo, who led the country from 1976 to 1982, died Tuesday at a Mexico City hospital, according to family members and medical officials.

"He died at peace with himself, with his family and with his conscience," his son, Jose Ramon Lopez Portillo, said.

Tall, balding and blustery, Lopez Portillo often referred to himself as the last of the country's presidents who remained loyal to the "true ideals" of the bloody 1910-20 revolution, promising to bring prosperity for all, especially to the millions of Mexicans struggling on the edge of poverty.

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Ex-Mexican President Portillo Dies at 83