Roger Hervé Aguilar Salazar (September 12, 1938 – September 5, 2018) was a Mexican teacher, politician and 2018 Deputy-elect to the national Chamber of Deputies from the Third Federal Electoral District of Yucatán, based in Mérida. A member of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party of President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Aguilar was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from Yucatán in the 2018 general election on July 1, 2018.[1] However, just months later, Aguilar died from cerebral hemorrhage on September 5, 2018, before taking office.[1] [2] Aguilar was the first left-wing politician to gain a seat in Chamber of Deputies through a majority vote in Yucatán state history.[2]
Salazar was born in Mérida on September 12, 1938.[1] He attend the Escuela Normal de San Diego, a rural school in Tekax, Yucatán, and the Escuela Superior de la Metrópoli, where he studied mathematics.[1] He worked as a teacher and taught math at the Yaxkabá primary school in Xocchel Municipality.[1]
In 1969, he led protests against the government of Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz.[1]
In 2018, Aguilar announced his candidacy for Chamber of Deputies for the Third Federal Electoral District of Yucatán as a member of the MORENA party of presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador.[1] The general election was held on July 1, 2018. Aguilar's opponent, Cecilia Patrón Laviada of the National Action Party (PAN) was initially declared the winner of the seat.[1] However, Aguilar appealed the results to the Federal Electoral Tribunal.[1] A federal judge agreed to Aguilar's appeal and ordered a recount.[1] After the recount, a judge ruled in favor of Aguilar and ruled him to be the winner of the seat.[1]
Aguilar, however, would never be sworn in due to his deteriorating health. He died from a cerebral hemorrhage, a complication of multi-year illness with leukemia, at the in Mérida, Yucatán, at the age of 79.[1] He was survived by his wife, Mirna Buenfil Valencia, and two children, Tania Violeta Nadia Alina and Fidel Efraín.[2] Limbert Iván de Jesús Interian Gallegos, his elected alternate, took his seat in the Chamber of Deputies and was sworn in on September 13.[3]