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| Political Parties of Mexico |
Mexican Political Parties
Mexico's Major Political Parties. An interesting note,
in 2000 the color of the PRI's logo became a major issue. It's red, white, and
green are the colors of the national flag and this caused opposition candidates
to fear the in less educated or illiterate voters would be confused and just
vote for the flag (which would be a vote for the PRI).
Mexico currently
has 11 political parties. This may seem like a lot until one realizes that even
in the US has far more parties than the Dems and the GOP. In Mexico, like in the
US, only a few of these parties are real political players and bear
mention.
Mexico was a one party state until in the 1980s when party
competition began to emerge at the local levels of government. Democracy in
Mexico spread from cities, to states, then finally to the national level with
the victory of PAN candidate Vincente Fox.
For all practice purposes,
Mexico is a three party system with really only the PRI being competitive
everywhere.
PRI - the PRI which stands for Partido Revolucionario
Institucional (Institucional Revolutionary Party) ruled Mexico single handedly
for about 70 years. The roots of the PRI were indeed revolutionary and were
embodied in the populist spirit of Lazaro Cárdenas who was foremost in pushing
Mexico down a path of economic nationalism, particularly with the
nationalization of the petroleum industry and the creation of PEMEX, the mega
state run oil company that continues to be a symbol of mexican independence..
and corruption. The PRI was founded on the back of unions, peasants, the
military and the support of the middle sectors eschewing the traditional power
bases of the church, business, and the U.S. The PRI however gradually grew
bloated and corrupt.
Indeed, corruption is today the term most widely
associated with PRI rule, particularly after the disastrous presidency of Carlos
Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994) whose alleged association with drug traffickers
and highly self-serving privatization schemes (which turned public monopolies
into private monopolies) allowed he and his cronies to become billionaires over
night and caused the Mexican government to overtly take on the characteristics
of a giant mafia. Largely as a result, Mexico has more "Forbes" billionaires,
11, than all but eight other nations.
With the loss of the presidency in
2000, it was assumed the corrupt PRI would fall apart, but to the surprise of
most political scientists, it has since made a comeback. The PRI remains the
largest party in the national assembly and holds many state governorships. It is
especially strong in the rural sectors ,among unions, and in the "backward"
South of the country.
The PRI is one of two parties that are relevant in
the state of Guerrero along with the PRD. The PRI has never lost the
governorship.
PRD - Partido de la Revolución Democrática (Democratic
Revolutionary Party) was born during the 1988 election when the left wing of the
PRI split in protest to the selection of party insiders of Carlos Salinas as the
next PRI presidential candidate (and therefore Mexico's president) when it was
widely held to be the left's turn to have their choice be the next president.
The PRD was quickly formed as the personal vehicle of the left's choice,
Chautemoc Cárdenas, the son of Mexico's famous populist leader and PRI luminary
Lazaro Cárdenas to challenge Salinas and what he represented. They held the PRI
that was moving too far to the political right and abandoning it's revolutionary
past.
In the presidential contest of 1988, Cárdenas was widely believed
to have won the election only to have it overtly stolen by the PRI in a form
that made Florida 2000 look downright clean. (The central election computers
went down with Cárdenas well in the lead, when they returned, Salinas had opened
a sizable lead.) Since the PRD has coalesced into a strong national party with
changeable leadership. The PRD is Mexico's liberal party favoring nationalistic
economic policies, a nominal preference for the everyman, and social liberalism
and in particular women's rights.
In the state of Guerrero, the PRD is
very competitive and may be the first party to win the governorship from the
PRI. In Acapulco, the PRD is today the ruling party having won a succession of
mayoral races.
PAN - Partido Acción Nacional (the National Action Party) was
the official opposition during the years of PRI domination and phony elections
(the PRI held regular elections in which they dictated the outcome, but they did
need someone to run against to make it nominally an election and the PAN was
it). In the 1980s, the PAN began to become a real contender winning local
elections at the local level in the northern states... creating pressure for the
1986 Electoral Reform Law which for the first time opened the door to
competitive politics. The PAN is a traditional conservative party favoring a
competitive, open economy, religion, and traditional social values. It's base in
in the north, particularly Monterrey and the border region.
The PAN's
Vincente Fox currently holds the presidency, but it's prospects for 2006 look
bleak.
In the state of Guerrero and especially in Acapulco, all the
action is between the PRI and the PRD and the PAN is nowhere to be found polling
only about 3% in statewide polls.
While Mexico has about a dozen
parties, only tow other bear mention:
PT - Partido del Trabajo -
Worker's Party - a traditional socialist workers party. Some presence in
Guerrero and Acapulco.
PVE - Partido Verde Ecologista de México - Mexico's Green
party, but with problems with sticking to their green ideals. This is no Ralph
Nader organization.
CONV - Convergencia
(the Convergence Party) - a loose knit party promoting democracy and national
development. Some presence in Guerrero and Acapulco.
The other parties
and contact information for all can be seen here.
At the moment the National Chamber of Deputies
(read: House of Representatives) breaks down along these lines (note the smaller
parties won seats due to proportional representation laws):
PRI - 44%
PAN - 30%
PRD - 19%
PVEM- 3%
PT - 1%
C - 1%
IFE - Mexico's Federal Election Institute - for more
information about Mexican politics and particularly voting and Mexico's recent
transition to democracy, this is the first place you should stop.
Real
Acapulco is happy to learn that Ana Maria Salazar's "Living in Mexico", that
Mexico's best English langauge radio show dedicated to politics, not previously
available in Acapulco, can now be heard online at www.imagen.com.mx/livinginmexico.
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| What's happening
in Acapulco? |
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