Sánchez Navarro, Juan (1913–2006)

A Mexican entrepreneur, lawyer, university professor, and journalist, Juan Sánchez Navarro was considered the ideologist of the Mexican private sector. He was the son of Carlos Sánchez Navarro and Guadalupe Peón and descendant of one of the richest families in Mexico before 1867. His grandfather lost most of his fortune after supporting Maximiliano of Hapsburg during the French occupation of Mexico. His family subsequently moved to Mexico City, where Sánchez Navarro was born on April 24, 1913. After studying at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Sánchez Navarro started his career as journalist in Mexico City's newspaper Novedades. He also had a modest role in the foundation of the Mexican Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) before abandoning his editorial and political activities to start a successful career in the Mexican private sector. He started at Cervecería Cuauhtemoc and in 1942 moved to Grupo Modelo, where he became vice president in 1960. During his tenure, Grupo Modelo went from a medium-size local company to an important competitor in international beer markets.

However, what made Sánchez Navarro especially prominent among Mexican businessman was his role in employers' organizations such as CONCANACO, CONCAMIN, and the Mexican Council of Businessmen. This involvement made him a natural interlocutor for the Mexican government and workers' organizations. It is this influential role and the relevance of his political and economic positions that made his reputation as the ideologist of the Mexican private sector. He died on April 12, 2006.

See alsoMexico, Political Parties: National Action Party (PAN) .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Camp, Roderic Ai. Entrepreneurs and Politics in Twentieth-Century Mexico. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Harris, Charles H., III. A Mexican Family Empire, the Latifundio of the Sánchez Navarros, 1765–1867. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1975.

Ortiz Rivera, Alicia. Juan Sánchez Navarro: Biografía de un testigo del México del siglo XX. Mexico: Grijalbo, 1997.

                                  Sergio Silva-CastaÑeda