Question 5 Module 4 -Part I.pdf Question 5 Module 4 -Part 2.pdf Outline • Mexico 1. Colonial Period 2. Independence 3. Post Independence 19th century 4. Mexican Revolution 5. Post revolutionary Mexico (1930’s-1980’s) Map of Mexico Colonial Period • Mexico was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. • Mexico was an important territory for Spanish empire. It was rich in mineral resources. • Mexico had a huge indigenous population. Independence • Mexico’s independence had two phases 1. 1813-First proclamation of independence. It was crushed by the Spanish army. 2. 1821-Second proclamation of independence. It succeeded. Post Independence • Once Mexicans achieved independence from Spain, Agustín de Iturbide created an empire and appointed himself as Emperor. • de Iturbide invited the other territories of the former Viceroyalty of New Spain to join the empire. • The empire will last from 1822 until 1823 when de Iturbide was forced to leave power. Mexico will become a republic. Post Independence • With the establishment of the republic, Mexicans experienced political instability. • Two political groups clashed: Conservatives-believed in the promotion of aristocratic ideas and the protection of the rights of the military, elites and church. Liberals-believed in a restricted democracy and in reducing the power of the military and church. Post Independence • First half of 19th century-Some important Mexican political leaders 1. Guadalupe Victoria: 1st president of the republic. 2. Antonio López de Santa Anna dominated politics from 1833 until 1855. Post Independence Mexico lost a big portion of its territory due to the Mexican American war. • 1835 Texans rebelled and declared independence from Mexico. Mexican troops (led by Santa Anna) tried to crush the rebellion and succeeded in the Alamo but later failed in the Battle of San Jacinto. • 1845 Texas was incorporated by the US. Post Independence • Mexicans saw annexation of Texas as an act of war by the USA. • Dispute between USA and Mexico over border. • President James Polk sent troops to Mexico and Mexicans counterattacked. • Mexican American War started. • Results of the war: US paid Mexico 15 million dollars and took the entire territory from Texas to California. It was half of Mexico’s domain. Post Independence Second half of 19th century: Reforms, Monarchy and Republic -Various Liberal governments enacted a series of sweeping reforms. 1. Abolition of military and ecclesiastical “fueros”- special dispensations exempting military and clerics from having to stand trial in civil courts. 2. Prohibition to ecclesiastical and civilian institutions of ownership of property not directly used in day to day operations. 3. Transfer of power of registry from Church to Post Independence • In reaction to Reforms- War of reforms (1858- 61)-Conservatives vs. Liberals • Liberal leader Be ...

1. Question 5 Module 4 -Part I.pdf
Question 5 Module 4 -Part 2.pdf
Outline
• Mexico
1. Colonial Period
2. Independence
3. Post Independence 19th century
4. Mexican Revolution
5. Post revolutionary Mexico (1930’s-1980’s)
Map of Mexico
Colonial Period
• Mexico was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
• Mexico was an important territory for Spanish
empire. It was rich in mineral resources.
• Mexico had a huge indigenous population.

2. Independence
• Mexico’s independence had two phases
1. 1813-First proclamation of independence. It
was crushed by the Spanish army.
2. 1821-Second proclamation of independence. It
succeeded.
Post Independence
• Once Mexicans achieved independence from
Spain, Agustín de Iturbide created an empire
and appointed himself as Emperor.
• de Iturbide invited the other territories of the
former Viceroyalty of New Spain to join the
empire.
• The empire will last from 1822 until 1823 when
de Iturbide was forced to leave power. Mexico
will become a republic.
Post Independence
• With the establishment of the republic,
Mexicans experienced political instability.
• Two political groups clashed:
Conservatives-believed in the promotion of

3. aristocratic ideas and the protection of the rights
of the military, elites and church.
Liberals-believed in a restricted democracy and in
reducing the power of the military and church.
Post Independence
• First half of 19th century-Some important
Mexican political leaders
1. Guadalupe Victoria: 1st president of the
republic.
2. Antonio López de Santa Anna dominated
politics from 1833 until 1855.
Post Independence
Mexico lost a big portion of its territory due to the
Mexican American war.
• 1835 Texans rebelled and declared
independence from Mexico. Mexican troops (led
by Santa Anna) tried to crush the rebellion and
succeeded in the Alamo but later failed in the
Battle of San Jacinto.
• 1845 Texas was incorporated by the US.

4. Post Independence
• Mexicans saw annexation of Texas as an act of
war by the USA.
• Dispute between USA and Mexico over border.
• President James Polk sent troops to Mexico and
Mexicans counterattacked.
• Mexican American War started.
• Results of the war: US paid Mexico 15 million
dollars and took the entire territory from Texas
to California. It was half of Mexico’s domain.
Post Independence
Second half of 19th century: Reforms, Monarchy
and Republic
-Various Liberal governments enacted a series of
sweeping reforms.
1. Abolition of military and ecclesiastical “fueros”-
special dispensations exempting military and
clerics from having to stand trial in civil courts.
2. Prohibition to ecclesiastical and civilian
institutions of ownership of property not
directly used in day to day operations.
3. Transfer of power of registry from Church to

5. Post Independence
• In reaction to Reforms- War of reforms (1858-
61)-Conservatives vs. Liberals
• Liberal leader Benito Juárez deepened reforms
through decrees.
• After years of fighting, Juárez’s army defeated
the Conservatives. Juárez became President in
1861.
• Juárez’s government faced bankruptcy and
declared a 2 year moratorium on Mexico’s
foreign debt. European creditors will be upset.
Benito Juárez
Post Independence
• Monarchy
-French Emperor Napoleon III sought to expand
his empire and launched a 5 year war of
occupation in Mexico.
-After ousting Juárez, Napoleon, with the help of
Conservatives, installed Ferdinand Maximilian
as Emperor.

6. -Juárez’s troops resisted the Monarchy and
pushed the French away in 1867.
Post Independence
Restoration of the Republic
• Juárez was President during 1867-72.
• Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada succeeded him.
• Porfirio Díaz overthrew Lerdo de Tejada. (Lerdo
wanted to be re-elected).
Porfirio Díaz
Post Independence
• Porfirio Diaz’s dictatorship (1876-1911)
-He was the power behind the throne when he
placed puppet presidents
-Diaz’s policies:
1. He achieved political stability. He used military
and police.
2. He amended the constitution to be re-elected.
3. Under his government, Mexico achieved
impressive economic development.
-But, the majority of Mexicans remain poor.

7. Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution started with a division within
elite
• Francisco Madero opposed Díaz’s dictatorship
and ran for president against him in 1910.
• When Madero lost, Díaz ordered his arrest.
• Madero’s arrest inspired many Mexicans to rebel
vs. Díaz.
• Under pressure from different groups, Díaz left
the country in 1911.
• Madero is elected President in 1912.
Francisco Madero
Mexican Revolution
• Madero and his followers began the Revolution.
Later on ,they could not control it.
• Two revolutionary leaders had other goals:
1. Emiliano Zapata led a movement of peasants
without land. They wanted land!
2. Pancho Villa led a movement initially composed

8. of small ranchers, unemployed miners and
cowboys. They wanted jobs!
Mexican Revolution
• Madero was killed by his military chief of staff,
Victoriano Huerta.
• Huerta (1913-14) wanted to become a dictator
like Porfirio Díaz.
• A third revolutionary leader will be Venustiano
Carranza. He will lead an army vs. Huerta. His
group wanted political reforms.
• Carranza, Villa and Zapata vs. Huerta.
Mexican Revolution
• Huerta resigned under pressure of the United
States.
• Carranza was elected President in 1917.
• Military troops killed Zapata (1919) and Villa
(1923).
• Under Carranza, a group of delegates wrote the
1917 Constitution. It contained revolutionary
elements: rights to workers to get organized, all
sub soils belonged to Mexico, president can not
serve two consecutive terms, reduction of role of

9. Church in education, and restoration of
Mexican Revolution
• Alvaro Obregón ordered the murder of Carranza.
• Obregón becomes president from 1920 until
1924.
• Obregón transferred power to Plutarco Elías
Calles (1920-24).
• After Calles’ term expired, Obregón ran for
president and won in 1924. Obregón was killed
by a religious fanatic.
• Calles returned to the presidency and stayed in
power from 1924 until 1928.
• Calles created an official party, the National
Mexican Revolution
• Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-40)
-First president chosen through the official party.
-Cárdenas’ policies:
1. Distribution of land to peasants.
2. Expropriation of American oil companies.
3. Reorganized and renamed the official party.
Social groups tied to party. New name: Party of
the Mexican Revolution.

10. Lázaro Cárdenas
Mexican Revolution
• Cont. Cárdenas’ policies
4. Presidency became the primary institution of
the Mexican political system. Like a “king” for 6
years.
5. Presidential candidate from official party was
chosen by top leaders within party. “Dedazo.”No
primaries.
6. Official party had monopoly on media.
-Political system was partially democratic-
competitive elections but not free and fair.
Post Revolutionary Mexico-PRI’s
PAX (Peace) and “Perfect
Dictatorship”• After 1940, Mexican Revolution will be over.
• The official political party’s predominance in
politics will bring peace and stability.
• Mario Vargas Llosa called it the “perfect
dictatorship.”
• Even when presidents came from the same

11. party, they will lean to different sides of the
political spectrum.
Post Revolutionary Mexico
Manuel Avila Camacho (1940-46) -Center right
• Cárdenas chose a more conservative candidate to
protect his radical policies from a backlash from
the right.
• Under his presidency, Avila made an agreement
with US President Roosevelt to allow Mexican
workers to work on US fields during the war
period.
Post Revolutionary Mexico
Miguel Alemán (1946-52)-Center right
• Reorganized and renamed the official party New
name: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
• Invested in infrastructure
• Increased protection against imports
• Economic growth
Post Revolutionary Mexico
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines (1952-58)

12. • In attempting to reduce inflation, Ruiz Cortines
devalued the Mexican peso and set a fixed
exchange rate. Devaluation helped to increase
Mexican exports.
Post Revolutionary Mexico
Adolfo López Mateo (1958-66)-Center Left
• Nationalization of US and Canadian owned
electric companies and the US controlled motion
picture industry.
• Constitutional Amendment to guarantee
opposition parties a minimum of Congressional
seats if they win a minimum % in national
elections. Thanks to this change, other smaller
political parties (PAN and PPS) won
congressional seats in 1964.
Post Revolutionary Mexico
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964-70)-Center Right
• Massacre of Tlatelolco-Government repressed
student mobilizations during the 1968 Olympic
Games in Mexico. Hundreds died and many
more injured. Repression sent a message to the
population: if you protest, you would be
repressed.

13. • Economic growth 6%
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
Post Revolutionary Mexico
Luis Echevarría (1970-76) Center Right
• High inflation rates. 20% (1973). Mexican
products were less competitive in the
international market. Mexican goods were based
on 1954 exchange rates. Peso was expensive.
Echevarría devalued the peso. This was the end
of a powerful economic and political symbol.
Luis Echevarría
Post Revolutionary Mexico
José López Portillo (1976-82)
• Under his presidency, Mexicans discovered vast
quantities of oil. Oils exports increased.
Economic growth.
• Petro dollars caused inflation. López had to
devalue the peso.

14. • After 1981 oil prices in the international market
declined. López had to take loans.
José López Portillo
Post Revolutionary Mexico
• Cont. López Portillo
-Electoral reforms: new and easier rules to register
political parties and 100 seats for the opposition
in an expanded 400 member Chamber of
Deputies.
Post Revolutionary Mexico
Miguel de la Madrid (1982-1988)
• Financial crisis-Mexico could not pay foreign
debt. Causes: oils prices went down, high
interest rates of debt, and capital flight (rich
Mexicans were taking money out of banks
fearing problems with the economy.)
• US and International Banks rescued Mexico with
a loan package. Price of help: Mexico had to
adopt an austerity program. For example: reduce
public spending, selling public companies,
reduction of tariffs.

15. Miguel de la Madrid
Post Revolutionary Mexico
Cont. de la Madrid
• Mexicans faced a deep recession. Real wages fell
40%. Living standards fell with the end of public
spending (ex. Subsidies).
• 1986 Mexico took another loan package
• 1986 Increased the number of seats in the
Chamber of Deputies distributed by proportional
representation from 100 to 200. Allowed for
increase of opposition.
• 1988 Inflation rates 143%. Domestic capital
market crashed. 75 % drop in Mexican stock
Post Revolutionary Mexico
1988 Elections . Big test for PRI rule
• Economic crisis translated into more votes to
opposition political parties.
• Main opposition political parties: right wing
National Action Party (PAN) and left wing

16. Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD).
• Carlos Salinas de Gortari won by 50.3% of the
total vote. Very low outcome for Mexican
standards.
Conclusion
• Characteristics of 19th century Mexican politics:
political instability, reforms monarchy, republic
restoration and dictatorships.
• Revolution had a major social, economic and
political impact in Mexico.
• “Perfect dictatorship”: PRI dominated Mexican
politics until the end of the 20th century.
present
Introduction
• Carlos Salinas de Gortari 1988-94
• Ernesto Zedillo 1994-2000
• Vicente Fox 2000-06
• Felipe Calderón 2006-12
• Enrique Peña Nieto 2012-present

17. Carlos Salinas de Gortari
Carlos Salinas de Gortari
• He continued and extended the economic
strategies initiated by de la Madrid. He lowered
trade barriers and privatized state owned
companies.
• Economic results: reduced annual inflation to
20-30% and annual growth rate of 3.1% in 1989.
Carlos Salinas de Gortari
• Electoral reforms
-1990 Creation of the Federal Electoral Institute
(IFE) formally independent of the government
but still under control of the Ministry of Interior
with majority PRI representation.
-1993 Introduced minority representation in the
Senate. The senate doubled in size (128).
-1994 IFE remained under control of the Ministry
of Interior but other members were non partisan
citizen representatives elected by parties.
Allowed international electoral observers.
Carlos Salinas de Gortari

18. • Under Salinas, Mexico joined the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It
was a trading and investment regional bloc
between the US, Canada and Mexico.
• Mexico was a “first world country”?
Carlos Salinas de Gortari
• Two challenged vision of Mexico as an advanced
country.
1) On the day that NAFTA went into effect (Jan. 1,
1994) the Zapatista National Liberation Army
(EZLN), a guerrilla movement, emerged in
Chiapas. The Zapatistas opposed the trade
accord, Salinas’ economic model and the
undemocratic character of the system. They
demanded rights to indigenous communities
and social justice.
2) The assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio, the
Carlos Salinas de Gortari
• 1994 Elections
Salinas picked Ernesto Zedillo as the PRI
candidate.
Results of 1994 elections:
-Ernesto Zedillo (PRI) won by 48.8%

19. -PAN 26%
-PRD 16.6%
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo
• Mexico had a deep recession.
▫ Why? Investors withdrew money (10 billion
dollars in one week) from Mexico because they
were expecting a devaluation. In response, Zedillo
devalued the peso. It lost more than half its value.
Near collapse of the economy. Mexico was able to prop
up its economy through a multi-billion-dollar loan
from the United States and prompt action by the
International Monetary Fund. In return, Mexico
pledged some of its future oil revenues.
Ernesto Zedillo
• Zedillo worked to implement the economic
austerity measures that had been a condition of
the U.S. financial bailout and continued efforts
to privatize state-owned petroleum and
transportation enterprises

20. Ernesto Zedillo
• Zedillo broke away with the traditional impunity
to presidents and their relatives for changes on
corruption.
▫ He sent Salinas into exile (Salinas started to
criticize Zedillo's economic policies)
▫ He ordered the arrest of Salinas' brother, Raul
Salinas, on charges of corruption.
Ernesto Zedillo
• In 1995 Zedillo replaced the country’s entire
Supreme Court—which then began to rule
against government agencies on a regular basis—
and picked a member of the main opposition
party to be his attorney general
Ernesto Zedillo
• 1994-96 Peace negotiations with Zapatistas.
• 1996 Zapatista representatives and the Mexican
government signed peace accords that aimed to
address the issues highlighted by the Zapatista
rebellion, such as the need for increased political
participation and local political autonomy for
indigenous peoples. However, the Zapatistas
later broke off negotiations with the government.

21. Ernesto Zedillo
• 1997 Electoral reforms
-First election for the mayor of DF (previously
appointed by President since 1928)
-Opposition had greater access to free media.
-IFE is totally independent. Head of IFE is a non
partisan citizen.
-Limited private source of campaign funding.
-Placed Electoral Tribunal under the Judicial
branch, no longer under Executive control.
Ernesto Zedillo
• 1997 Legislative and municipal elections
-PRI control of the legislature was eliminated, 4
opposition parties holding the majority of seats
in the Chamber of Deputies.
-PAN major beneficiary of the anti PRI vote.
Ernesto Zedillo
• NO DEDAZO. First PRI Primaries. To make the
PRI more democratic and revive the party’s
political fortunes, President Zedillo relinquished

22. his right to pick the next PRI candidate for
president. PRI held the first presidential primary
election in Mexico’s history. In the election, open
to all registered voters in Mexico, Francisco
Labastida Ochoa overwhelmingly defeated three
other candidates to win the party’s nomination
for the July 2000 presidential election.
Ernesto Zedillo
• 2000 elections
Francisco Labastida (PRI) 36%
Vicente Fox (PAN) 43%
The first time the PRI had not won the presidency
since the party’s founding in 1929. During the
2000 elections the PAN also became the largest
party in the Chamber of Deputies, and the PRI
lost its majority in the Senate.
Transition to democracy!
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
• Challenges:
-A political system that has been dominated by the
PRI.

23. -PAN did not control Congress, needed to
negotiate with other parties.
-Human rights violations by PRI
-PRI corruption
-Legalization of status of illegal immigrants in
USA
Vicente Fox
• Plans for Immigration Accord (amnesty and
temporary work visas/guest worker program to
solve the problem of illegal workers in USA)
could not materialized due to 9/11.
Vicente Fox
• Human Right policy
-Fox’s government created the Special
Prosecutor’s Office and the Commission of
Human Rights. The Commission is dependent
on the executive, which has exercised control
over its budget and named its president.
Vicente Fox
• Obstacles for Cases on Human Rights Violations:
-The Office has neither effectively provided a new

24. version of the atrocities committed under the
authoritarian regime, nor being able to punish
those responsible for the violations.
-When courts have granted arrest warrants, the
judicial police (dependent on the Executive
branch) has been unable or unwilling to enforce
the arrest and the accused remain at large.
-Several repression events and many
disappearances go back to more than thirty years
Vicente Fox
• Crime rate has increased.
-Kidnapping. Police allied with criminals. Problem
of safety. Citizens do not feel safe.
-Drug cartels have become more powerful.
Vicente Fox
2006 Elections-Presidential Candidates
Felipe Calderón (PAN) 36.69%
Manuel López Obrador (PRD) 36.11%
Roberto Madrazo (PRI) 22.72%
Another victory for PAN. According to the Federal
Electoral Institute, Calderón won by a small
margin( 0.56%) López Obrador declared that he
won the elections. Crisis of legitimacy for

25. Calderón.
Felipe Calderón
Felipe Calderón
• Challenges:
-Deepening democratization
-Fighting crime. Especially Drug Cartels
-Economic Development
Felipe Calderón
Foreign policy:
• Calderón expanded the Mesoamerican
Integration and Development project/Puebla
Panama Project (regional integration initiative)
to include Colombia and an agreement of
cooperation vs. organized crime.
• Calderón proposed the Mérida Initiative-a
security cooperation between the United States,
Mexico and the countries of Central America to
combat drug trafficking and transnational crime.
Felipe Calderón

26. • Immigration Reform: In 2008 the Mexican
Congress passed a bill decriminalizing
undocumented immigration into Mexico.
Felipe Calderón
Domestic policy
• Made a Tortilla Price Stabilization pact with
tortilla producing companies. Price ceilings on
tortillas.
• Set a cap on the salaries on the President and
cabinet ministers.
• Created the Office of Social Aid for Victims of
Violence.
• Trying to implement a universal health care
system.
Felipe Calderós
• Increased and cleaned up Federal Police,
enlisted the service of army to fight vs drug
cartel and criminal organizations.
Enrique Peña Nieto

27. 2012 Elections-Presidential candidates
Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI) 38.2%
Andrés Manuel López Obrador (PRD) 31.6%
Josefina Vázquez Mota (PAN) 25.4%
Enrique Peña Nieto
Enrique Peña Nieto
Energy:
• Energy Reform bill approved by Congress in
December 2013. It open up Mexico’s
hydrocarbons sector to foreign investment for
the first time since 1930’s.
Enrique Peña Nieto
Security issues:
• Peña Nieto’s priority is to reduce violence
(murder rates, kidnappings and extortions)
rather than attacking Mexico’s drug trafficking
organizations.
• Peña Nieto’s government created a National
Police also known as “gendarmerie.”

28. Enrique Peña Nieto
• Critique to Peña Nieto’s security policies:
▫ Too much talking about strategy but not enough
on content.
▫ Peña Nieto has said little about crime and
violence. It seems that he wants these issues to
disappear from public discussion. He has
emphasized talking about economic reforms.
Enrique Peña Nieto
• Victory for his security policies: Joaquin “El
Chapo” Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel,
was arrested in February 2014 in Sinaloa,
Mexico
Enrique Peña Nieto
• The biggest humiliation to Peña Nieto’s security
policy was when Guzmán escaped from prison
(for the second time), in July 2015, by exiting
through a tunnel that led to a nearby
construction site.
• His two escapes have symbolized institutional
failure and corruption in Mexico.

29. El Chapo’s escape
• http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/15/world/mexico
-el-chapo-escape/
Enrique Peña Nieto
• Peña Nieto announced the recapture of “El
Chapo” by Mexican authorities following a
shootout on 8 January 2016.
Enrique Peña Nieto
• Recapturing Mexico’s most wanted man was a
boost for Peña Nieto’s government.
• However, his administration faces the following
challenges:
▫ Plunging currency
▫ Falling oil price
▫ Public distrust in institutions and government.
▫ Rule of law is in crisis
▫ Levels of violence continue to be high.
Conclusion
• Mexican political system has changed since
1980’s

30. • PRI does no longer dominate political system
• Electoral reforms have allowed opposition to win
seats in Congress, governorships, mayoralties,
and presidency.
• Transition to democracy culminated in the 200
elections.
• Mexico has an imperfect democracy with many
challenges.
Question 5 Module 4 -Part IQuestion 5 Module 4 -Part 2