| Nepotism or Not |
12 May 2003
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Mexico's PRI in Mid-Term Chaos
The Partido Revolucionario Institucional governed Mexico for 71 consecutive years, until the 2000 elections. Now, out of office for just over 2 years, the question is whether the party will survive. Party Leader Roberto Madrazo appears more interested in taking care of his own rather than returning to the presidential palace.
PRI has always maintained itself with electoral spoils in a way that would make old Mayor Daley green with envy. This is much harder to do without control of the presidency, but to protect the future of his Party Mr. Madrazo needs to try.
Instead, he has selected candidates for the mid-term elections that offer nothing to his internal opponents, and offer his son and his closest ally's son spots in the ballot. Former President and PRI member Miguel de la Madrid said the party faces a possible "irreversible process of weakening." Meanwhile, Mr. Madrazo is not helping, having said, "the door is open for opportunists to leave."
All is not lost, though, as the PRI really needs to be shaken up, and perhaps dismantled. The PRI was never created to achieve power but to retain it once it was won after the 1910 revolution. Its ideology is non-existant, and so it has no reason to exist beyond patronage. Outside Mexico, few will notice its passing, and inside Mexico, things must might improve.