Thread: Mexican migrant lawmaker dies from cancer

Friday, Feb. 06, 2009
Mexican migrant lawmaker dies from cancer
By OLGA RODRIGUEZ - Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY -- Andres Bermudez, who made history by becoming the first migrant living in the United States to win a Mexican mayorship, has died of cancer. He was 58.

Bermudez, a flamboyant lawmaker for President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party, or PAN, died Thursday, the party said in a statement. He had battled stomach cancer since March.

He died at a hospital in Houston, Texas, where he was receiving treatment since December, the daily newspaper El Sol de Zacatecas reported.


Andres Bermudez, candidate for mayor and U.S. resident, shows his thumb after casting his vote in Jerez, Mexico, in this Sunday, July 1, 2001 file photo. Bermudez, also known as " The Tomate King", nickname he earned after inventing the tomato-planting machine that turned him into millionaire, who made history by becoming the first migrant living in the United States to win a Mexican mayorship. Bermudez died of cancer at the age of 58, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009.

- Gregory Bull /AP Photo


Bermudez first crossed illegally into the United States in 1973, hidden in a car trunk with his pregnant wife. He then worked his way from field hand to labor contractor in California. He invented a tomato-planting machine that earned him the nickname "Tomato King" and made him a fortune.

Bermudez made history in 2001 when he was elected mayor of his hometown of Jerez, in the northern state of Zacatecas.

He was stripped of that victory by the Federal Electoral Institute because he had not met residency requirements, but won the mayorship again in 2004 after Zacatecas legislators changed state laws to let part-time residents seek public office.

Bermudez always dressed in black, from his hat to his Tony Lama boots, and was known for his gruff-talking style and flamboyant personality. Those traits provoked harsh criticism from some of Jerez's city council members, who accused him of being arrogant and confrontational.

In 2006, Bermudez, who shuttled between his ranch in California and Jerez, won a seat in the lower house of Congress for the PAN.

http://www.thestate.com/world/story/675969.html

My grandma has a tumor that could kill her because it can’t be removed, and it seems she has given up. She doesn't have cancer anymore, but she is giving up on life. She refuses to eat and she throws up, whether she does it intentionally or not we don't know. She is still in the hospital, but the main fear is that if she comes home and is left alone or something that he might commit suicide. How to survive her?
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