Career
He briefly served as Governor of San Luis Potosí from September to October 1991, after he was forced to resign due to a fraud conflict with Salvador Nava. After retiring from politics he served as diplomat in different posts, including as Ambassador to Italy (1977), Malta (1977), China (1987), North of Korea (1987) and as Consul to Los Angeles (1992) and New York (1993). Since 2005 he anchored Diálogos Políticos, a political analysis and commentary program in Televisión Mexiquense.
Zapata died due to cancer on 15 December 2014.