constructing Ciudad Pemex, a development in Tabasco oriented towards the petroleum industry as “a gigantic effort by Mexican society to overcome by technical means the wanton blind forces of nature in order to build a world capable of giving satisfaction to the highest needs of man.” In this period he was precandidate for the PRI nomination for Presidency and afterwards he served for three years as Mexican ambassador in the Middle East, returning only in 1961 to serve in the final public position of his life, director of the National Border Program (PRONAF). Bermúdez's brainchild, PRONAF sought to remake the border cities of the country in order to display the development of Mexican economy and culture, transform the dour reputation of the region, and capture greater shares of the cross border consumer market for Mexico. This program ultimately fell far short of its original intentions but helped kickstart the industrialization of the border region. To this day, the massive Antonio J. Bermúdez Industrial Park in Ciudad Juárez bears his name. References Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians 1892 births 1977 deaths Politicians from Chihuahua (state) People from Chihuahua City People from Ciudad Juárez Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) 20th-century Mexican politicians Municipal presidents in Chihuahua (state) 20th-century Mexican businesspeople