Carlos Jongitud Barrios was a controversial Mexican

Mexican people

Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....

 union leader and governor of San Luis Potosí

Governor of San Luis Potosí

The governor of San Luis Potosí solely exercises the role of the executive branch of government in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, per the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí...

 (1979 – 1985). For decades he was generally portrayed by the Mexican press as a gangsterish, de facto leader of the national teachers' union

Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación

The Mexican National Educational Workers Union is the largest trade union in Latin America, with over 1.4 million members. Formed in 1949, the SNTE is composed of local sections in each of Mexico's states...

 (in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

: Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, SNTE).

Jongitud Barrios was born at Coxcatlán

Coxcatlán

Coxcatlán is a town and municipality in San Luis Potosí in central Mexico.-References:...

, San Luis Potosí

San Luis Potosí

San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....

, the son of Atanasio Jongitud Álvarez, a farmer, and María Guadalupe Rodea García, an elementary school teacher. He graduated as an elementary school teacher from the Escuela Normal in Ozuluama

Ozuluama

Ozuluama is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located in the state's Huasteca Alta region. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Ozuluama de Mascareñas...

, Veracruz

Veracruz

Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

, and received a bachelor's degree in law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico

National Autonomous University of Mexico

The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...

.

Jongitud joined the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) in 1942, representing it twice in the Senate

Senate of Mexico

The Senate of the Republic, constitutionally Chamber of Senators of the Honorable Congress of the Union After a series of reforms during the 1990s, it is now made up of 128 senators:...

 and once in the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Mexico

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Congress of the Union, Mexico's bicameral legislature. The structure and responsibilities of both chambers of Congress are defined in Articles 50 to 70 of the current constitution.-Composition:The Chamber of Deputies is composed of one federal...

. He also served as general director of the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers

Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers

The Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers is a governmental organization in Mexico that administers part of Mexico's health care and social security systems, and provides assistance in cases of disability, old age, risks in labor, and death...

(ISSSTE) from 1976 until 1979.