Biography
This biography was written in Spanish and appears here in translation.
National Indigenous Governor of Mexico
Candelaria is a graduate of the Laboratorio de Teatro Campesino e Indígena (Rural and Indigenous Theater Workshop).
She is celebrated as an outstanding theater and dance teacher, an actress, a translator of Indigenous stories and poems from the Yokot'an language, and a radio and television producer.
She founded the radio station XNAC, “La Voz de los Chontales,” where she also worked as an on-air host.
Candelaria is a recognized leader in the Indigenous region of Nacajuca. She began doing charitable work at age nine and became a seasoned community organizer. For her tireless fight to preserve her roots and her language, she has received several honors, including:
- Guardian of the Indigenous Language.
- State recognition as an entrepreneurial and empowered Indigenous woman
- The “Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela” State Human Rights Award in the Defense of Human Rights category, presented by the Tabasco State Human Rights Commission.
- Founder of the first Indigenous-language translators' workshop in Tabasco, endorsed by the state's High Court of Justice
She has also served as Technical Secretary in the Mexican Senate
and as Parliamentary Secretary in the Tabasco Chamber of Deputies.
Candelaria Lázaro Lázaro has dedicated her life to charitable and philanthropic work. She is Indigenous, was born in Tucta, Nacajuca, is 52 years old, and is the mother of three young adults.
In 2015, through her organization Ixiktak y ja Patrimonio Cultural (Mujeres y Agua Patrimonio Cultural, A.C.), she helped more than 4,000 women who had suffered abuse and violence.
By age eight, she was already on Indigenous radio on the program “Voz de los Chontales,” giving health advice and tips on using medicinal herbs, and even teaching how to weave. She learned it all from her maternal grandmother, a potter and the community's traditional healer.
Candelaria spoke only Yokot'an, the Chontal language of Tabasco, and began speaking Spanish at age nine.
Candelaria went on to finish middle school, earn a technical degree as a programmer analyst, and complete a degree in theater and dance.
In 2019, she stepped down as Indigenous Governor of the State of Tabasco to begin her term, starting in November 2020, as National Indigenous Governor of Mexico. In that role she represents 30 states with Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, as well as migrants living in different parts of the country.
She is President of the civil society organization Ixiktak y ja (Mujeres y Agua) Patrimonio Cultural.
Member of the Fuerza Migrante Board of Directors as Chair of Indigenous Affairs
Member of the regional river basin council.
Member of the environmental advisory council of SEMARNAT (Mexico's environment ministry) in Tabasco.
