At 88 Years, Mexico's Party of the Institutional Revolution Shows Signs of Old Age Jose Gil Olmos - Proceso
go to original March 13, 2017

According to the latest opinion polls, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is not a popular leader. (CGTN)

The PRI [Party of the Institutional Revolution] celebrated its 88th anniversary last earlier this month. In 71 out of its 88 years the party never changed. The PRI started a political culture that other political parties replicate, almost seamlessly, because they see the presidency as a central figure for exercising power without altering any government structures.

The year 2000 marked the depletion of the authoritarian PRI regime that allowed Vincente Fox to win and the PAN [National Action Party] to be elected as a better government. The businessman from Guanajuato simply took advantage of the need for change, as expressed by the public in polls. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas couldn’t capitalize on this, since the PRD [Party of the Democratic Revolution] had already shown signs of the splits that now have it in full decline.



As a second or even third political force, during 12 years the PRI was dedicated to strengthening its presence in key institutions such as the Supreme Court of Mexico, the Electoral Court, the Electoral Institute, the National Human Rights Commission, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and the judiciary. But also with the business community and in the media, mainly television.

All this paved the way for its return with Enrique Peña Nieto in 2012, on the principle that it would demonstrate how a good government should operate. Economic growth and social stability that had been lost after the announcement of the war against drug traffickers, started by Felipe Calderón, would be restored.

However, they did not fulfil their promises. Enrique Peña Nieto turned out to be the worst president out of all those that had ran for PRI and there is a slim chance that the PRI will retain the presidency in the election in 2018.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices | Spanish original

Related: Mexico Politics: Leftist PRD Falling Apart (Mexico Voices)

Translated by Samantha Hoose

Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico - on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx

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