Andres Oppenheimer: Finally, Mexico Gets Its Chance with Its Own Jesse Ventura Andres Oppenheimer - The Miami Herald
go to original June 11, 2015

Rodriguez is a more traditional politician than Ventura, but whether federal and local officials of traditional parties will allow him to be a successful governor is a big if. (Google Images)

There were big headlines in the media describing the victory of an independent politician as the new governor of Mexico’s key northern state of Nuevo Leon as the rise of a new political star and a turning point in Mexico’s history because it could open the door to a powerful independent presidential candidacy in 2018. But I doubt that any of this will happen.

While Jaime “El Bronco” Rodriguez won an impressive victory against all odds, and might turn out to be a great governor, Mexico’s established political parties are likely to do whatever they can to undermine his governorship. And they might succeed.

There is a good chance that “El Bronco” could end up being Mexico’s Jesse Ventura. Remember Jesse Ventura? He was the independent politician and former professional wrestler who against all odds won the Minnesota governorship in 1998 and served until 2003.

But the state Legislature and the media made his life as governor impossible, and he decided not to run for a second term. Ventura then moved to Mexico, where according to published reports, he lived part-time for many years.

Much like “El Bronco” today in Mexico, Ventura made world headlines when he won the 1998 race for governor as an independent running for the Reform Party, fueling hopes among many that his election would mark the start of a new era in which the Democratic and Republican parties would no longer have a virtual monopoly over U.S. elections.

But after some early successes, Democrats and Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature blocked most of his proposals. In his first three years in office, the Legislature overrode 12 Ventura vetoes. Comparatively, “No previous governor had more than four vetoes overridden in a four-year term,” USA Today reported on June 18, 2002.

Granted, “El Bronco” is a more traditional politician than Ventura — Rodriguez was a member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for three decades — and has vowed to work together with politicians from all parties. But whether federal and local officials of traditional parties will allow him to be a successful governor is a big if.

Read the rest at The Miami Herald

Related: 6 Independents Won Seats in Mexico on Sunday (Mexico News Daily)

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!