National Political Leader Choco Gonzalez Meza passes away

By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2016

Former Eagle Passan and national Democratic Party leader Choco Gonzalez Meza passed away on Sunday, October 9, 2016, at the age of 64 in her beloved San Antonio, Texas, succumbing to cancer.

Gonzalez Meza was born in Zaragoza, Coahuila, Mexico in 1952 and immigrated with her parents and family to the United States in 1955, settling in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Gonzalez Meza rose from the streets of Eagle Pass to the political and civil rights battles in San Antonio to national public housing and political battles in Washington, D.C.   She was a member of the Democratic Party National Committee and was a key player in the recently held Democratic Party National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, becoming the San Antonio Director of Hillary Clinton for President Campaign.

She is survived by her husband of over 40 years, Daniel S. Meza, and two children, Danny Meza and Ivalis Meza-Gonzalez, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and extended family members.

Gonzalez Meza was also the Bexar County Democratic Party Chair, active in the Texas Democratic Party, and served the Democratic National Committee.

In 1992, Gonzalez Meza served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Relations for former Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros in Washington, D.C.  She also served as HUD’s Liasion with the Bill Clinton White House.

She worked tirelessly in San Antonio battling political and civil rights injustices against Mexican- Americans, particularly in the West Side, and collaborated with the late Willie Velasquez in registering Latinos to vote throughout the United States.

Gonzalez Meza graduated from St. Mary’s University and there met Dr. Charles Cottrell, Chair of the Political Science Department, with whom she worked in implementing a single member City Council District plan for the City of San Antonio as well as for many South Texas communities, including Sonora.

Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton upon learning of Gonzalez Meza’s death tweeted that she was “Saddened by the passing of Choco Meza, a historic figure in Texas politics & beloved member of our team. My prayers are with her family.”

Gonzalez Meza met Hillary Clinton during the 1970s when Clinton volunteered to register Latinos in San Antonio and throughout South Texas and both struck a personal friendship.

Eagle Passans, San Antonians, and American leaders mourn the loss of a national success story and historic national political leader.