Carlos Castillo Peraza (1947-2000) was a Mexican journalist, philosopher and politician who stood out as a member of the National Action Party (PAN) of his country, being one of its main ideologues.
Throughout his life he was a collaborator and columnist for various Mexican and foreign media, such as the Reforma del Distrito Federal, El Norte de Monterrey, El Diario de Yucatán, Siglo XXI de Guadalajara, El Imparcial de Hermosillo, as well as the Spanish newspapers. El País and ABC from Spain or the Italians L'Avvenire and 30 Giorni.
Cover photo of the book The Possible Future, by Carlos Castillo Peraza. Source: Editorial Fondo de Cultura Económica.
As a politician he held a large number of positions in the structure of his party and on two occasions he was elected as a federal deputy. In addition, throughout his career he was a candidate for governor of Yucatán, municipal president of Mérida and head of government of the Federal District.
Between 1993 and 1996 he was the national president of the PAN, which he later resigned to dedicate himself to academic life. He has a degree in Philosophy and Letters, having graduated from universities in Mexico, Italy and Switzerland.
As a writer, he published several books in which he reflected his ideas and thoughts on democracy, the state, the market, the economy, and political parties, among other topics.
Biography
Early years and studies
Carlos Castillo Peraza was born on April 17, 1947 in the city of Mérida, the capital of the state of Yucatán, in Mexico.
At the age of 21, with the support of Archbishop Manuel Castro Ruiz, he was elected as national president of the Catholic Association of Mexican Youth, being one of the youngest to hold that position.
In 1967 he moved to Mexico City and became a member of the National Action Party, of humanist ideology and linked to liberal, Thomist and Christian democratic ideas.
A year later he began his studies for a Bachelor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She then got a scholarship at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, where she finished her degree in 1971.
He then pursued a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Friborg, Switzerland, specializing in Political Philosophy, from which he obtained his degree in 1976.
On the other hand, during that decade he served as a professor at the Political Philosophy seminar at the Universidad de la Salle and at the Montejo de Mérida University Center, Yucatán, in Mexico.
Political career
Within the PAN he held a wide variety of positions, both at the state and national levels. Among other positions, he was founder and first director of the National Action Institute for Political Studies and Training, and secretary of International Relations of the National Executive Committee.
In 1980 and 1988 he was a candidate for governor of Yucatán and in 1984 for municipal president of Mérida. Then on two occasions he was elected as a federal deputy.
Between 1993 and 1996 he was appointed national president of the PAN. A year later he was a candidate for head of government of the Federal District, finishing third in the race.
In 1998, he resigned from his party and left political life to dedicate himself to academic activities.
On September 9, 2000, he died in the city of Bonn, Germany, of a myocardial infarction while he was sleeping.
Tributes
After his death, Castillo Peraza received several tributes. In 2004, in Los Pinos, the official residence of Mexican presidents, her bust was placed on the Calzada de la Democracia, which pays tribute to representative figures who fought for it during the 20th century.
On the other hand, in 2007 he was decorated postmortem with the Belisario Domínguez Medal of the Senate of the Republic, the highest distinction granted by this Chamber. The award was presented by the then president of Mexico Felipe Calderón to his widow Julieta López Morales.
In addition, there are neighborhoods, schools and streets that bear his name.
Plays
As a writer, Carlos Castillo Peraza published several books in which he reflected his thoughts and reflections.
Among them, Ideas Fuerza and Apuesta por el Mañana stand out, in which he sets out his vision on politics, the state, parties, the economy and democracy, among other topics.
Also La victoria cultural, 1987-1996, which includes a series of reports and messages from the presidents of the National Action Party.
For its part, The Possible Future: Selected Works brings together essays published in the magazine Palabra del PAN and in various publications such as Nexos or Vuelta.
After his resignation from this party, he launched the book Disiento, a collection of writings on political, social, economic and cultural analysis, which also offers proposals that help find alternative paths for healthier growth.
Finally, You will return is the book he was writing before he died. It is an autobiographical novel dedicated to his children, designed so that they can understand where they come from.
Other works of his authorship are The Anthropophagous Ogre; Beyond politics, which brings together journalistic writings; The square and the rostrum, made up of some of his speeches; and Doctrine and Ideology.
Quotes
Among the most remembered phrases of Carlos Castillo Peraza are the following:
-Democracy is not the danger. Democracy is the opportunity.
-When a government wants to destroy a people, the first thing it does is falsify its history, because without common memory there is no people: it dissolves.
- Politics is not a fight of angels against demons, but must start from the foundation that our political adversary is a human being.
-I disagree with those who prefer to do nothing and keep Mexicans in the state of survivors. I disagree with those who set themselves up as judges because I know and recognize that I am not innocent. I disagree with those who do not allow themselves to forgive because I am aware that I also need to be forgiven.
-I believe in journalism understood in this way and I have tried to practice it based on what they tried to teach me in the Diario de Yucatán. That is why I am saddened and outraged by those who make this most noble profession a miserable business, a constant attack against grammar, an anti-national process of corrosion of the language, a system of impunity for lies, defamation and slander.
References
- Informative Agency Udem. Carlos Castillo Peraza. Available at: Agenciainformativaudem.com
- Trejo Delabre, Raúl (2000). Carlos Castillo Peraza. The chronic. Mexico.
- Ling Altamirano, Federico (2004). Candlelight. Notes for a biography of Carlos Castillo Peraza. Senate of the Republic. Mexico.
- Carlos Castillo Peraza, Wikipedia. Available at: Wikipedia.org
- Political Memory of Mexico. Carlos Castillo Peraza. Available at: memoriapoliticademexico.org