GAINESVILLE - Felix Gonzalez Canto, former governor of the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, will be the speaker for Riverside Military Academy's 2012 Commencement ceremony on May 12.
A native of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Gonzalez Canto attended Riverside from grades 8-12. He was battalion commander his senior year as well as class president every year from grades 8-11. He is an alumnus of Riverside's class of 1986 and has served as an RMA Board of Trustee member since 2010.
Following graduation from RMA, Gonzalez Canto earned a degree in economics from the Technological and Higher Studies Institute in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. Prior to entering the public sector, he was the coordinator of advisors for the Center of Finance and Economics at the Institute. He also served as advisor to the president of CANACO on the subject of external commerce.
He has held numerous political positions, both appointed and elected, prior to serving as governor of Quintana Roo from 2005 to 2011. His elected positions include mayor of Cozumel from 1999 to 2002; federal representative of the 59th Legislature of Congress of the Union for District 1, Quintana Roo; secretary of the committee of tourism of the Chamber of Representatives of the Congress of the Union; and representative of Mexico before the Central American Parliament in 2004. Among his many accolades and awards, he includes the Douglas MacArthur Award presented to him personally by General MacArthur's widow at Riverside Military Academy in 1986.
According to Col. Jim Benson, President of Riverside, "Felix Gonzalez Canto is one of Riverside's most distinguished alumni who could at some time become the first RMA graduate to be a Head of State."
Gonzalez Canto is currently running for a Senate seat in Mexico. He and his wife, Narcedalia Martin Villanueva, have two children - Victoria Patricia and Felix Lenin.
Thursday
August 21st, 2025
4:03PM
