The Left discovered that its post-electoral strategy of constant confrontation was actually helping Felipe Calderon and his popularity instead of undermining it. So Marcelo Ebrard, the mayor of Mexico City, who's a very savvy politician, he changed course. He decided to actually govern instead of simply trying to bring the Calderon government down.

Denise Dresser

Categorized in : Down City Trying Government

Aguilar Zinser played a crucial role in the struggle for democracy in Mexico. He was on the right side of that battle, however strident, passionate, and difficult he was.

Denise Dresser

difficult democracy battle struggle

So many people view the war on drugs as a failure, as something that was perhaps intended and carried out with good intentions but very badly executed.

Denise Dresser

good failure war people

Trump has said he will dismantle the North American Free Trade Agreement. This would be hugely harmful for Canada and the U.S. and for integration in the region.

Denise Dresser

will free canada said

Vicente Fox beat the PRI by gambling on a simple formula: Marketing + Money = Presidency.

Denise Dresser

beat gambling money simple

Ignoring party leaders in order to sway public opinion may work in countries where elected representatives are responsive to their constituencies. But in Mexico, members of the legislature cannot be reelected, so their destinies depend less on the will of the people than on party bosses.

Denise Dresser

will opinion work people

Mexico is trapped by a dense network of rent-seekers and monopolies in sectors that are crucial for economic growth, including telecommunications, energy, transportation, and financial services.

Denise Dresser

transportation economic growth energy

The tin man vs. the straw man. The candidate with a brain but without a heart against the president with a heart but without a brain. That's how many Latin Americans are viewing the race between John Kerry and George W. Bush.

Denise Dresser

man race brain heart

Mexico City is being used as a laboratory to send the message throughout the rest of Mexico that the Left can govern. That here, it can be different, and it can actually get things under control and provide an alternative to the National Action Party and its conservative views.

Denise Dresser

be-different control rest city

Suddenly, I'm like this political Ann Landers, which is a role I'd never envisioned for myself.

Denise Dresser

never myself like political

In Mexico, the perception of power is power.

Denise Dresser

mexico perception power

Jesse Helms has historically been identified as an enemy of Mexico; therefore, by definition, anyone who opposes him is a friend of Mexico.

Denise Dresser

friend who mexico enemy

PRONASOL repositions the PRI as a welfare machine.

Denise Dresser

machine welfare

Mario Ruiz Massieu's resignation places the ball very firmly in Zedillo's court. A key decision he will have to make is whether he is going to govern with, without, or against his own party.

Denise Dresser

own will party decision

For Mexicans, corruption is not a deal breaker.

Denise Dresser

breaker mexicans deal corruption

The National Action Party, in many ways, emulated the PRI in the way in which it conducted itself in government, supporting corporatist leaders, supporting corrupt oil worker union leaders.

Denise Dresser

party government action way

The PRI can afford to push democratization; it can afford to be generous because it has a very good chance of winning in clean elections.

Denise Dresser

push good chance winning

The PRI portrays itself as the force of the center, of stability.

Denise Dresser

itself center stability force

I'm not necessarily opposed to greater American involvement. But if that's the way the Mexican government wants to go, it needs to come clean about it. Just look at what we learned from Iraq. Secrecy led to malfeasance. It led to corrupt contracting.

Denise Dresser

go look government way

The emergence of cross-border coalitions and issues shows the advent of a whole new era in U.S.-Mexican and Mexico-California relations.

Denise Dresser

new new-era advent shows

Spoiling my ballot paper is the only way I can see of stripping the system of legitimacy, shaking it up, and reforming it so that it favours citizens.

Denise Dresser

only see i-can way