| José Guadalupe Cervantes | |
| Office: | Governor of Zacatecas |
| Term Start: | 12 September 1980 |
| Term End: | 11 September 1986 |
| Predecessor: | Fernando Pámanes Escobedo |
| Successor: | Genaro Borrego Estrada |
| Office2: | President of the Chamber of Deputies |
| Term Start2: | 1 November 1963 |
| Term End2: | 30 November 1963 |
| Predecessor2: | Salvador González Lobo |
| Successor2: | Joaquín Gamboa Pascoe |
| Office3: | Member of the Chamber of Deputies for Zacatecas′s 3rd district |
| Term Start3: | 1 September 1961 |
| Term End3: | 31 August 1964 |
| Predecessor3: | Hugo Romero Macías |
| Successor3: | José Muro Saldívar |
| Birth Date: | 24 May 1924 |
| Birth Place: | Teúl de González Ortega, Zacatecas |
| Party: | PRI (until 2004) |
José Guadalupe Cervantes Corona (May 24, 1924 – March 13, 2013) was a Mexican politician and academic. He served as the Governor of Zacatecas from 1980 to 1986.[1] [2]
Cervantes was born in the municipality of Teúl de González Ortega, Zacatecas, in 1924.[2] [3]
Cervantes became Zacatecan state Director of Education in 1950 when he was only 26 years old.[2] He next served as an official within the administration of Zacatecan Governor Francisco E. García from 1956 to 1962.[2] Cervantes would later be elected to the state Chamber of Deputies and then as a federal deputy in the Chamber of Deputies.[1] Cervantes then held a seat in the Senate of the Republic from 1976 until 1980.[1]
A member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), was elected Governor of the Mexican state of Zacatecas in 1980 with the support of Mexican President José López Portillo.[1] He served as Governor for one term, ending in 1986. Cervantes was a strong proponent of infrastructure and urban development projects during his tenure.[2] He supported and launched a new gas pipeline connecting neighboring Aguascalientes to Zacateca's second largest city, Fresnillo.[2] He sought to attract new investors and businesses to the cities of Guadalupe and Calera de Víctor Rosales.[2] He was the first Zacatecan Governor to propose a new industrial corridor extending from Ojocaliente to Fresnillo.[2] Cervantes hoped that the new projects would boost jobs and economic growth in the state.[2]
He largely stayed out of local politics until the early 2000s.[1] In 2004, Cervantes publicly renounced his membership in the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and left the party.[1] He endorsed gubernatorial candidate Amalia García of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) in the 2004 Zacatecan election.[1] Garcia's father had served in Cervantes cabinet during his tenure as governor.[2] Amalia Garcia won the 2004 election over the PRI candidate and was elected governor.[1]
Cervantes again criticized the PRI in 2010 over a potential political alliance between the PRI and the Labor Party, which he opposed.[2] However, the proposed alliance never came to fruition.[2]
Cervantes died at home from heart failure on March 13, 2013, at the age of 88.[1] [2] A public viewing was held at the Sixtina de Funerales Hernández chapel in the city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas.[1]