Mexican politics

Every now and then someone has asked me to write in this blog about my opinions of Mexican politics. I haven't done it because I don't feel that I know enough. Also, the Mexican constitution prohibits foreigners from taking part in anything political... and that's in there for the reason that there has been lots of intervention by US citizens in the past. Of course, right now I'm in the US so I can say what I want and even when in Mexico I seriously doubt that a political blog entry in English would get me kicked out of the country.

All that said, I will report a little on some conversations we had with Mexicans while we were there earlier this year. We didn't happen to run into any enthusiastic supporters of leftist Mexico City Mayor Lopez Obrador who is running for president in the 2006 elections, though there are many. A couple of people pointed out that his heart may be in a good place in his intentions to help the poor but that the economics of the country may be hurt if he does. A friend from Mexico City said that the budget there is a catastrophe.

Regarding the current president, Vicente Fox, whose PAN party won the first presidency other than the long-standing PRI in 60 years, I've heard a lot of mixed opinions. It's clear that he hasn't received the support in the Mexican congress that he would have needed to try out more of his ideas. As presidents in Mexico are elected for one six-year term (a sensible practice), he is not a contender for 2006.

There are PRI candidates, and several Mexicans mentioned they thought the PRI was the most likely to win next year. One of our friends said that there are quite a few competent politicians in the upper levels of the PRI. He may have mentioned more than one but the only name I recall is Enrique Jackson.

One Mexican whose job requires that he keeps close tabs on the political scene told me that the 2006 election will be a particularly important one for the directions that the economy of Mexico goes in.

As someone who may be living in Mexico longterm, I do intend to become better informed. A lot of the news is in Spanish, so I will be able to improve my reading comprehension too.