Cruz Pérez Cuéllar


Cruz Pérez Cuéllar is a Mexican politician affiliated with the National Regeneration Movement. In 2018, he was elected to the Senate from Chihuahua for the 64th and 65th Legislatures of Congress. He later took leave from the Senate and was elected Mayor of Ciudad Juárez on 6 June 2021.

Early life and education

Pérez Cuéllar was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on 16 January 1969. He studied law at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez while also owning a jewelry store known as La Colonial. During this time, he became active in student organizations and joined the National Action Party in 1988.

Political career

National Action Party

In 1991, Pérez Cuéllar coordinated the PAN federal deputy campaign in Chihuahua's fourth district. Three years later, he was elected to the LVI Legislature of the Mexican Congress as a federal deputy, serving on seven commissions, including Youth Matters and Border Matters. He also became part of the municipal committee for the PAN in Ciudad Juárez and later the secretary of organization for the PAN in Chihuahua. Between 1997 and 1998, he served as state party secretary general.
In 1998, Pérez Cuéllar was elected to the Chihuahua state legislature, leading the PAN caucus. In 2000, he was elected state party head, resigning in 2003 ahead of a campaign for mayor of Ciudad Juárez.
From 2006 to 2009, he returned to the Chamber of Deputies in the LX Legislature, representing Chihuahua's third district. In 2008, he again became leader of the state party. In 2012, he sought but did not obtain the PAN nomination for the Senate.

Citizens' Movement

In March 2015, Pérez Cuéllar left the PAN after publicly accusing then-senator Javier Corral Jurado of misconduct. He affiliated with Movimiento Ciudadano and ran for governor of Chihuahua in 2016. His campaign platform included participatory budgeting, a recall referendum for the governor, and expanded child care services. In 2017, testimony in a corruption trial revealed that former governor César Duarte had financed his campaign with MXN$15 million in misappropriated funds.

Morena

In 2017, Pérez Cuéllar joined the National Regeneration Movement and ran for Senate in 2018 on the Juntos Haremos Historia coalition ticket with Bertha Alicia Caraveo Camarena. The ticket won a plurality, and both candidates entered the Senate.

Mayor of Ciudad Juárez

On 6 June 2021, Pérez Cuéllar was elected Mayor of Ciudad Juárez.