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Mexico: Notes on Political Opposition John Neagle University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository NotiSur Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) 10-25-1988 Mexico: Notes On Political Opposition John Neagle Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/notisur Recommended Citation Neagle, John. "Mexico: Notes On Political Opposition." (1988). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/notisur/2402 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NotiSur by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LADB Article Id: 074089 ISSN: 1060-4189 Mexico: Notes On Political Opposition by John Neagle Category/Department: General Published: Tuesday, October 25, 1988 Four political parties and dozens of leftist and populist political organizations joined together in the National Democratic Front that was formed to support Cuauhtemoc Cardenas in the July 6 election. Their ideological differences were smoothed over, result of the stature and prestige of Cardenas. The political leader is the son of a revered former president, and led a dissident faction of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), before breaking with the ruling party last year. At present, coalition is seeking to consolidate its election gains, including 137 seats in the 500-member Chamber of Deputies and four in the 64-member Senate, and establish a permanent presence and structure. An example of the ideological diversity of the Cardenas alliance is seen in the differences between the Socialist Party and the Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution. Until it endorsed Cardenas, the Authentic Party was widely perceived as a "satellite" of the PRI with no program other than nationalism. In contrast, the Socialists are a disciplined and highly ideological party whose membership includes the Mexican Communist Party and several marxist- leninist groups. The two other major forces in the Cardenas coalition are the Party of the Cardenas Front for National Reconstruction, formerly known as the Socialist Workers' Party, and the Popular Socialist Party. Both have indicated they prefer to retain independent identities while continuing to support Cardenas and to participate in the National Democratic Front. On Oct. 22, Cardenas formally issued a call to "all Mexican democrats" to join him in setting up a new party. In an interview last week with the New York Times, Cardenas said that "it is quite impossible" for both the Mexican Socialist Party and the Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution to join him and other former PRI dissidents "in the formation of this new organization," as yet unnamed. "This implies their fusion into the new organization and their dissolution as separate parties," Cardenas said, adding that "those who wish to go beyond" the statement of principles he said the party would draw up in the next few months "will have to look for another organization." According to Cardenas, "The new party will be one whose objective is to carry out the nationalist program of the Mexican Revolution. It will not be a Socialist party, but a party that takes as its basis the principles of political and economic democracy, including a more just distribution of income and greater public participation in the making of economic decisions." Political commentator Octavio Paz said recently that "Cardenismo" is not a party, but rather "an association of parties, an amorphous association that does not have a clear ideology. There are groups that are Socialist, and others have a floating ideology." The PRI reportedly believes that what it perceives as the ideological fuzziness of the Cardenas coalition is a political windfall to be exploited in dozens of state and municipal elections over the next three years. Newspapers and magazines supporting the government have declared that communists have infiltrated the Cardenas alliance. The PRI has asserted that opportunism and personal ambition are the real motivating force of the coalition. Cardenas's political progress has been obstructed by government rulings designed to prevent his coalition from running single candidates in elections in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco. Although such coalitions are not illegal, state election laws have been interpreted in a way that has limited the Front's ability to act as a single force in mayoral and state legislative elections. This problem may be resolved by the creation of the new party. (Basic data from New York Times, 10/22/88) ©2011 The University of New Mexico, Latin American & Iberian Institute. All rights reserved. Page 1 of 2 LADB Article Id: 074089 ISSN: 1060-4189 -- End -- ©2011 The University of New Mexico, Latin American & Iberian Institute. All rights reserved. Page 2 of 2.
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