PORTES GIL, EMILIO

born Oct. 3, 1891, Ciudad Victoria, Mex. died Dec. 10, 1978, Mexico City Mexican political leader and diplomat who was provisional president of Mexico from Dec. 1, 1928, after the assassination of President-elect Alvaro Obregn, to Feb. 5, 1930. From late 1914 Portes Gil worked for the revolutionary movement led by Venustiano Carranza, but he supported Alvaro Obregn against Carranza in the presidential elections of 1920. After Obregn was elected president for the first time, Portes Gil became provisional governor of Tamaulipas. He also was governor of that state from 1925 to 1928, during the presidency of Plutarco Elas Calles. In 1930-31 Portes Gil was president of Mexico's sole political party, the National Revolutionary Party (PNR). Subsequently, he was minister to France and delegate to the League of Nations (1931-32), attorney general, and foreign minister. He retired from politics in 1936.