2012 in Mexico

This is a list of events that happened in 2012 in Mexico. The article also lists the most important political leaders during the year at both federal and state levels.

Incumbents

Federal government

President

President
*Felipe Calderon PAN, until November 30
*Enrique Peña Nieto PRI, starting December 1

Cabinet

Interior Secretary
*Alejandro Poiré Romero, until November 30
*Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, starting December 1
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
*Patricia Espinosa, until November 30
*José Antonio Meade, starting December 1
Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development
*Francisco Javier Mayorga Castañeda, until November 30
*Enrique Martínez y Martínez, starting December 1
Secretary of Agricultural, Territorial and Urban Development
*Jorge Carlos Ramírez Marín
Communications Secretary
*Dionisio Pérez-Jácome Friscione, until November 30
*Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, starting December 1
Education Secretary
*Alonso Lujambio, until March 16
*José Ángel Córdova, March 16-November 30
*Emilio Chuayffet Chemor, starting December 1
Secretary of Defense
*Guillermo Galván Galván, until November 30
*Salvador Cienfuegos Cepeda, starting December 1
Secretary of Navy
*Mariano Francisco Saynez Mendoza, until November 30
*Vidal Francisco Soberón Sanz, starting December 1
Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare
*Rosalinda Vélez Juárez, until November 30
*Alfonso Navarrete Prida
Secretary of Welfare
*Heriberto Félix Guerra, until November 30
*Rosario Robles, starting December 1
Tourism Secretary
*Gloria Guevara, until November 30
* Claudia Ruiz Massieu, starting December 1
Secretary of the Environment
*Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, until November 30
*Juan José Guerra Abud, starting December 1
Secretary of Health
*Salomón Chertorivski Woldenberg, November 30
*Mercedes Juan López, starting December 1
Secretary of Finance and Public Credit
*José Antonio Meade, until November 30
*Luis Videgaray Caso, starting December 1
Secretary of Economy
*Bruno Ferrari García de Alba, until November 30
*Idelfonso Guajardo, starting December 1
Secretary of Energy
*Jordy Herrera Flores, until November 30
*Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, starting December 1
*Comisión Federal de Electricidad
**Francisco Rojas Gutiérrez, starting December 1
*Pemex
**Emilio Lozoya, starting December 1
Attorney General
*Marisela Morales, until December 4)
*Jesús Murillo Karam, starting December 4
Chief of Staff: Aurelio Nuño Mayer, starting December 4
Coordinación de Comunicación Social de Presidencia : David López Gutiérrez
Estado Mayor Presidencial : Rodolfo Miranda Moreno,

Governors

Aguascalientes: Carlos Lozano de la Torre PRI
Baja California: José Guadalupe Osuna Millán PAN
Baja California Sur: Marcos Covarrubias Villaseñor, PAN
Campeche: Fernando Ortega Bernés PRI
Chiapas
*Juan Sabines Guerrero, Coalition for the Good of All, until December 7
*Manuel Velasco Coello PVEM, starting December 8
Chihuahua: César Duarte Jáquez PRI
Coahuila: Rubén Moreira Valdez PRI
Colima: Mario Anguiano Moreno PRI
Durango: Jorge Herrera Caldera PRI
Guanajuato: Miguel Márquez Márquez PAN
Guerrero: Ángel Aguirre Rivero PRD
Hidalgo: Francisco Olvera Ruiz PRI
Jalisco: Emilio González Márquez PAN
State of Mexico: Eruviel Ávila Villegas PRI
Michoacán: Fausto Vallejo PRI
Morelos
*Marco Antonio Adame PAN, until October 1.
*Graco Ramírez PRD, starting October 1.
Nayarit: Roberto Sandoval Castañeda PRI
Nuevo León: Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz PRI
Oaxaca: Gabino Cué Monteagudo MC
Puebla: Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas PAN
Querétaro: José Eduardo Calzada Rovirosa PRI
Quintana Roo: Roberto Borge Angulo PRI
San Luis Potosí: Fernando Toranzo Fernández PRI
Sinaloa: Mario López Valdez PAN
Sonora: Guillermo Padrés Elías PAN
Tabasco: Andrés Granier Melo PRI, until December 31, 2012
Tamaulipas: Egidio Torre Cantú PRI
Tlaxcala: Mariano González Zarur PRI
Veracruz: Javier Duarte de Ochoa PRI
Yucatán
*Ivonne Ortega Pacheco PRI, until September 30
*Rolando Zapata Bello PRI, starting October 1
Zacatecas: Miguel Alonso Reyes PRI
Head of Government of the Federal District
*Marcelo Ebrard PRD, until December 4
*Miguel Ángel Mancera PRD, starting December 5

Events

January 4 – Altamira prison brawl: Thirty-one killed and 13 injured in a Tamaulipas prison.
February 7 – The Estela de Luz to commemorate the bicentennial of the Independence of Mexico is inaugurated in Mexico City.
February 19 – Apodaca prison riot: Forty-four killed in a Nuevo León prison.
March 20 - A magnitude 7.4 earthquake kills two and leaves 30,000 homeless in Oaxaca and Guerrero.
March – Pope Benedict XVI visits Guanajuato.
April 15 - Reports of superheated rock fragments being hurled into the air by the Popocateptl volcano. Ash and water vapor plumes were reported 15 times over 24 hours.
April 20 – Álamo bus accident: Forty-three killed and 17 injured in an accident in Veracruz.
April and May – 2012 Nuevo Laredo massacres, April 17, April 24 and May 4.
May 3 – 2012 Veracruz murder of journalists: The bodies of two journalists were recovered in Veracruz on World Press Freedom Day.
May 13 – Cadereyta Jiménez massacre: At least 49 people are killed in the Mexican drug war.
June 9 – Miss Latin America 2012 won by Georgina Méndez Pimentel, 24, in the Riveria Maya.
June 18 and 19 – 2012 G-20 Los Cabos summit
August 12 – Edgar Morales Perez, PRI mayor-elect of Matehuala, San Luis Potosí, and his campaign manager were assassinated by unknown attackers.
August 19: 2012 Michoacán murder of photographers
December 9: 2012 Mexico Learjet 25 crash

Elections

Awards

Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor – Ernesto de la Peña
Order of the Aztec Eagle – Bono
National Prize for Arts and Sciences
*Linguistics and literature –
*Physics, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences – Ruben Gerardo Barrera,, Susana Lizano
*Technology and Design –
*Popular Arts and Traditions -, Cofradía de San Juan Bautista group, Traditional music community formed by the Vega-Utrera family
*Fine arts –, Helene Joy Laville Perren, Fernando González Gortázar
*History, Social Sciences, and Philosophy – Carlos Marichal,
National Public Administration Prize
Ohtli Award
* Alexander Gonzalez
* Charlie Gonzalez
* Carlos Gutierrez
* Salud Carbajal
* Francisco G. Cigarroa
* Paddy Moloney
* Mel Martínez
* David J. Schmidly
* Richard A. Tapia
* Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa
* Edward James Olmos

Film

List of Mexican films of 2012

Music

List of number-one albums of 2012 (Mexico)

Sport

Soccer/Football

Racing

Wrestling

Homenaje a Dos Leyendas (2012)
Héroes Inmortales (2012)
Rebelión de los Juniors (2012)
Rey del Ring (2012)
IWRG Ruleta de la Muerte (2012)
Arena Naucalpan 35th Anniversary Show
Caravan de Campeones (May 2012)
Caravan de Campeones (August 2012)
El Castillo del Terror (2012)
Prison Fatal (2012)
Legado Final (2012)
Gran Cruzada (2012)
Festival de las Máscaras (2012)
CMLL Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles (2012)
Guerra de Empresas (2012)
Guerra del Golfo (2012)

Misc

Notable deaths

January 7 – Raúl Régulo Quirino Garza, journalist in Cadereyta, Nuevo León; killed.
April 1 – Miguel de la Madrid, 52nd President of Mexico, 1982-1988
April 20
*Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro, military leader
*Héctor Javier Salinas Aguirre, journalist, in Chihuahua, Chihuahua; killed.
*Javier Moya Muñoz, journalist, in Chihuahua, Chihuahua; killed.
April 28 – Regina Martínez Pérez, journalist in Xalapa, Veracruz; killed.
May 3 – 2012 Veracruz murder of journalists:
*Gabriel Huge Córdova, journalist in Boca del Río, Veracruz; killed.
*Guillermo Luna Varela, journalist.
*Esteban Rodríguez, journalist.
*Ana Irasema Becerra Jiménez, journalist.
May 13 – René Orta Salgado, journalist and PRI politician, in Cuernavaca, Morelos; assassinated.
May 15 – Carlos Fuentes, Mexico-born author,
May 18 – Marco Antonio Ávila García, journalist in Empalme, Sonora; killed.
June 14 – Víctor Manuel Báez Chinojournalist in Xalapa, Veracruz; killed.
June 30 – Armando Montaño, journalist in Mexico City; killed.
August 5 – Chavela Vargas – Costa Rican singer who lived in Cuernavaca.
August 12 – Edgar Morales Perez, mayor-elect of Matehuala, San Luis Potosi
August 19 – Ernesto Araujo Cano, journalist in Chihuahua, Chihuahua; killed.
August 20 – 2012 Michoacán murder of photographers in Ecuandureo, Michoacán:
*José Antonio Aguilar Mota, freelance photographer; killed.
*Arturo Barajas López, photographer ; killed.
September 25 – Alonso Lujambio, 50, Senator and former Secretary of Public Education; cancer
October 7 – Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, gang leader ; killed by the navy
October 15 – Ramón Abel López Aguilar, journalist in Tijuana, Baja California; killed.
November 14 – Adrián Silva Moreno, freelance journalist in Tehuacán, Puebla; killed.
November 15 – María Santos Gorrostieta Salazar, 36, politician PRD, former mayor of Tiquicheo, Michoacan; beaten to death.
December 4 – Miguel Calero, soccer player
December 9 – Jenni Rivera, banda singer and coach of La Voz... México
December 22 – David Araujo Arévalo, journalist in Acapulco, Guerrero; murdered.