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Volume 38 Issue 2
September 19, 2000

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Mexican renaissance hushes PRI

GUEST COLUMNIST
FOR THE MESA LEGEND
Submitted September 19, 2000

As a child growing up in northern Mexico during the 1950s, I watched the process of the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Independiente). This party was the first ruling party in power after the Mexican Revolution, throughout the ’50s and through the end of the century.

It was a way of life and the only way of life I knew.

 The years went on and all I heard about was the PRI every six years as there is no re-election once a president has been placed in power. The constitution states it this way and the constitution would have to be changed in order for this to change.

People accepted the status quo.

However, there were other names of other parties mentioned, but those parties never seemed to win many elections.

Then, during the last 20 to 25 years, Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) became the second strongest party and began to win local and state elections. Finally, the Mexican people began to see victories from the PAN for such elected positions as governor and state senators.

Discontent peaked when PRI candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari won the 1988 presidential election. When he left office after six years, the country seemed closer to bankrupt than ever before.

Finally, a new candidate for president appeared on the horizon — Vicente Fox Quezuda.

Mr. Fox put forth new, more conservative ideas than the former party leaders had.

The Mexican people were afraid that a great deal of dishonesty would come about when the time came to count the votes.

However, from the very beginning, the number of votes favored Mr. Fox. As the evening  of Election Day wore on the incumbent president conceded that apparently Mr. Fox had won.

Mr. Fox accepted his new position graciously and certainly his words and ideology seemed different than the canned speeches that had been used for the previous seven decades.

This man actually seemed down to earth and his words could actually be understood.

Hope for the future has arrived and it is time for a new party.

Edna Fasnacht, Ph. D., is a foreign language adjunct faculty member at MCC.

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