Partido Revolucionario Institucional
Mexican Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) held power for roughly 70 years. It was the final result of all the political accommodations after the revolution, in which most of the supporting parties finally agreed to join under its umbrella.
It held every major political position during this time, only the odd diputado (congressperson) or senador (senator) from other parties ever got elected, the first state governor not to come from its ranks was elected in 1990.
The party has acquired a reputation for dishonesty to the extent that it is an open secret, and while this is admitted (to a degree) by some of its affiliates, its' supporters maintain that the role of the party was crucial in the modernization of Mexico.
Perhaps the only popular president of Mexico, Lazaro Cardenas, known for the oil expropiation from U.S. companies, came from its ranks, he was a person of leftist ideas who nationalized different industries and provided many social insitutions dear to the Mexican people. In the other side of the spectrum Carlos Salinas de Gortari privatized many industries, including banks and roads, and also negotiated NAFTA. This lack of ideological consistency paired wuth the endemic corruption has meant that since elections have become cleaner and fairer, PRI candidates for any position are struggling to obtain positions recently.
The PRI was heavily criticized for using the Mexican flag colors in its logo (something considered not unreasonable in many countries e.g. the United States, but frowned upon in Mexico), which is expressely forbidden by the law, but this was flaunted with many excuses, the most amuzing being that the colours were transparent but the background behind was that of the mexican flag.
In recent years the following have been key events in the history of the PRI:
- 1988 Amidst stronger than ever suspicions of electoral fraud, Carlos Salinas de Gortari won the presidential election
- 1994 For the first time in decades a high profile politician was murdered: PRI's candidate to presidency Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta was shot during a campaign event
- 2000 For the first time since its' inception it lost the Mexican presidency to the opposing candidate Vicente Fox Quezada.
