Jaime Bonilla Valdez

Jaime Bonilla Valdez
Born (1950-06-09) 9 June 1950
Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Occupation Senator, deputy
Political party PT (?–2014)
MRN (2014–present)
Website http://jaimebonilla.com/

Jaime Bonilla Valdez (born 9 June 1950) is a Mexican politician and businessman affiliated with the National Regeneration Movement (formerly of the Labor Party) who will serve as a senator representing Baja California in the LXIV Legislature of the Mexican Congress. He had previously been a proportional representation federal deputy from the state to the LXII Legislature.[1]

Life

Bonilla was born in Tijuana and obtained his degree in business administration from the UNAM in 1983. He worked in a variety of companies, including Electrol de México, CONESA, and COVIMEX de México.[1] Between 1982 and 1985, he directed the Potros de Tijuana baseball club, which played in the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico.[2] In 1984, he became the director general and a columnist of the Diario de Baja California newspaper, which began a career in media ownership for Bonilla. Through his company PSN (originally an acronym for Pacific Spanish Network, now Primer Sistema de Noticias), he directly operates XESS-AM 620 and XESDD-AM 1030 in Tijuana. He also owned XHENB-TV channel 29 in Ensenada, now a cable-only outlet, and his company Media Sports de México holds the concessions for two radio stations operated under brokerage agreements by American programmers, XEPE-AM 1700 and XHPRS-FM 105.7. Bonilla also acquired cable systems in Ensenada and Tecate. Bonilla also owned radio station KURS 1040 in San Diego through his company Quetzal Bilingual Communications; the station was sold in 2016 for $900,000.[3]

In 2000, Bonilla, then a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States, joined the board of the Otay Water District in Otay Mesa, California. While in the US, he was a donor to Republican causes and even was on the California finance committee for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.[4] In March 2012, he announced his resignation from the water board in order to run for federal deputy and simultaneously join the 2012 presidential campaign of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.[5] At the same time, he renounced his dual citizenship,[2] a move necessary to meet the constitutional requirements to run for office.[6] He became a proportional representation deputy on the PT list, during which time he served as the president of the Northern Border Matters Commission and was the state campaign coordinator for the PT in the 2013 Baja California state elections.[1] Bonilla left the post in 2014 in order to become the state party director for the then-new Morena party.[2] His relationship with López Obrador remained close; in 2016, Bonilla invited him to his Petco Park suite for the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[2] Party members and leaders say that in Bonilla's media holdings, López Obrador saw a "gold mine" to gain media exposure in Baja California.[2]

On 31 January 2018, López Obrador announced that Bonilla would be the primary Senate candidate in Baja California for the Juntos Haremos Historia coalition, forming a ticket with Alejandra León Gastélum.[7] The Juntos Haremos Historia ticket took first place in the election, securing both candidates seats in the Senate. However, Bonilla has stated that he will only remain in office three months and will then become the state development coordinator in Baja California.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Perfil del legislador". Legislative Information System. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Rueda, Rivelino (29 December 2016). "Jaime Bonilla sedujo a AMLO, pero dividió a Morena en BC". El Financiero (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Deal Digest - November 23, 2016". Inside Radio. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  4. ↑ González, Jorge (19 September 2012). "Republicano que financió a McCain ya es diputado del PT". La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  5. ↑ Dibble, Sandra (27 March 2012). "Otay's Bonilla resigns for high-profile posts in Mexico". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  6. ↑ Baños, Marco Antonio (3 June 2018). "Doble nacionalidad". El Economista (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  7. ↑ Osuna Murillo, Conrado (31 January 2018). "Va Jaime Bonilla por la candidatura al Senado". Blanco y Negro (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  8. ↑ Sánchez, Glenn (13 July 2018). "Jaime Bonilla solo será Senador por BC durante tres meses". La Crónica (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2018.
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