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Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
economist and politician who served as 60th
president of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the ...
from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the
Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...
(PRI), earlier in his career he worked in the Secretariat of Programming and Budget, eventually becoming Secretary. He secured the party's nomination for the 1988 general election and was elected amid widespread accusations of electoral fraud. An
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
, Salinas de Gortari was the first Mexican president since 1946 who was not a law graduate. His presidency was characterized by the entrenchment of the
neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent f ...
,
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
economic policies initiated by his predecessor
Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic a ...
in observance of the
Washington Consensus The Washington Consensus is a set of ten economic policy prescriptions considered to constitute the "standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington, D.C.-based institutions such as the International Mone ...
, mass
privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
s of state-run companies, Mexico's entry into
NAFTA The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
, negotiations with the right-wing opposition party PAN to recognize their victories in state and local elections in exchange for supporting Salinas' policies, normalization of relations with the
Catholic clergy The sacrament of holy orders in the Catholic Church includes three orders: bishops, priests, and deacons, in decreasing order of rank, collectively comprising the clergy. In the phrase "holy orders", the word "holy" means "set apart for a sacre ...
, and the adoption of a new currency. From the beginning of his administration, Salinas de Gortari was criticized by the Mexican left, who considered him an illegitimate president whose neoliberal policies led to higher unemployment and were perceived as giving away the wealth of the nation to foreign ownership. At the same time, during his first five years in office, Salinas was praised by the right wing and the international community as a leading figure of
globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
and credited him with modernizing the country. Salinas was also backed by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
government in his bid for Director-General of the newly created
World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...
(WTO). After years of economic recovery during his presidency, a series of mismanagement and corruption scandals during his last year in office crumbled his public image domestically and internationally. These events included the
Zapatista uprising On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) coordinated a 12-day Zapatista uprising in the state of Chiapas, Mexico in protest of NAFTA's enactment. The revolt gathered international attention. Background Disease, ensl ...
, the assassinations of
Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexic ...
(Salinas's hand-picked successor and PRI candidate for the 1994 presidential election) and
José Francisco Ruiz Massieu José Francisco Ruiz Massieu (July 22, 1946 – September 28, 1994) was a Mexican political figure. He was governor of Guerrero from 1987 to 1993. He then served as the secretary-general of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 199 ...
(Salinas's brother-in-law and PRI Secretary-General). This surge of political violence led to economic uncertainty. Facing pressures to devalue the peso, Salinas stood firm, opting for a strategy he believed would help his candidacy to be the inaugural president of the WTO. As a consequence, less than a month after leaving office, Mexico entered into one of the worst economic crises of its history. Shortly after, his brother
Raúl Salinas de Gortari Raúl Salinas de Gortari (born August 24, 1946) is a Mexican civil engineer and businessman. He is the elder brother of Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the 53rd president of Mexico. Raúl Salinas de Gortari graduated from the Faculty of Engineering ...
was arrested for ordering the assassination of Ruiz Massieu and was subsequently indicted on charges of drug trafficking. Salinas then left the country, returning in 1999. Salinas is often referred to as the most unpopular former president of Mexico. A 2005 nationwide poll conducted by Parametría found that 73% of the respondents had a negative image of him, while only 9% stated that they had a positive image of the former president. He has been regarded as the most influential and controversial Mexican politician since the 1990s.


Early life and education

Carlos Salinas de Gortari was born on 3 April 1948, the second son and one of five children of economist and government official
Raúl Salinas Lozano Raúl Salinas Lozano (born Agualeguas, Nuevo León; 1 May 1917 – 23 February 2004) was a Mexican economist. He was a former Secretary of Agriculture, Mexican Ambassador to the Soviet Union and father of former president Carlos Salinas de Gor ...
and Margarita De Gortari De Salinas. Salinas's father served as President
Adolfo López Mateos Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. Beginning his political career as a campaign aide of José Vasconcelos during his run for president, Ló ...
's minister of industry and commerce, but was passed over as the PRI's presidential candidate in favor of
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños (; 12 March 1911 – 15 July 1979) was a Mexican politician and member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970. Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés ...
(1964–70). When Carlos Salinas was chosen the PRI's presidential candidate for the 1988 election, he told his father, "It took us more than 20 years, but we made it." A tragedy occurred early in Carlos Salinas's life. On 18 December 1951, when he was three years old, he was playing with his older brother Raúl, then five, and an eight-year-old friend when they found a loaded rifle, and one of them shot and killed the Salinas family's twelve-year-old maid, Manuela. It was never determined which of the three boys pulled the trigger, and the incident was declared an accident; it was given newspaper coverage in ''Excélsior'' and ''La Prensa'' at the time. A judge blamed the Salinas parents for leaving a loaded weapon accessible to their small children. The Salinas family did not know the last name of their 12-year-old maid Manuela—only that she came from San Pedro Azcapotzaltongo—and it is unknown whether her family ever claimed her body. They were also exonerated with the assistance of Gilberto Bolaños Cacho, maternal uncle of legendary Mexican comedian
Chespirito Roberto Gómez Bolaños (21 February 1929 – 28 November 2014), more commonly known by his stage name Chespirito, or "Little Shakespeare", was a Mexican actor, comedian, screenwriter, humorist, director, producer, and author. He is widely re ...
, who is also nephew to
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Bolaños (; 12 March 1911 – 15 July 1979) was a Mexican politician and member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served as the President of Mexico from 1964 to 1970. Díaz Ordaz was born in San Andrés ...
, who became president of Mexico in 1964. He has not commented publicly on this tragic early childhood incident.Bussey, "Carlos Salinas de Gortari", p. 1330. Salinas attended the
National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
as an undergraduate, studying economics. He was an undergraduate when the student movement in Mexico organized against the
1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport ev ...
, but there is no evidence of his participation. He was an active member of the PRI youth movement and a political club, the Revolutionary Policy and Professional Association, whose members continued to be his close friends when he was president. Salinas was a skilled dressage horseman, and was a member of the Mexico national team at the Pan-American Games in
Cali, Colombia Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...
, in 1971. Salinas was one of the Mexicans of his generation who studied at elite foreign universities. He earned a master's degree in Public Administration from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
in 1973 and went on to earn a PhD from
Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, publi ...
in 1978. His doctoral dissertation was published as ''Political Participation, Public Investment and Support for the System: A Comparative Study of Rural Communities in Mexico''.


Personal life

Salinas met his future first wife, Cecilia Yolanda Occelli González, in 1958 when he was just ten years old. They began dating in 1965 when he was 17-years old and she was 16-years old. However, the relationship ended in 1968 when Salinas moved to the United States to study economics. In 1971, Salinas and Occelli reconnected in
Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...
, in the United States. They were engaged soon after and married on 15 April 1972, in a ceremony in
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. They moved to Boston, where Salinas was completing his master's and doctorate at Harvard University. The couple discovered that Occelli was pregnant with their first child during Salinas' first semester at Harvard. Their oldest daughter, Cecilia, was born on 22 January 1974. Occelli and Salinas had two more children: Emiliano, who was born on 19 February 1976, and Juan Cristobal, who was born in 1979. Cecilia Occelli González served as First Lady of Mexico from 1988 to 1994 during the Salinas presidency. Soon after leaving office, Salinas traveled to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to take a break from Mexican politics. He returned to Mexico from the United States in 1995, where he immediately asked his wife for a divorce. The couple divorced later in 1995. Salinas married his second wife, Ana Paula Gerard Rivero, shortly after his divorce from Occelli. It is believed that Salinas originally met Gerard in 1983 at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, where he was teaching at the time, though that story remains unconfirmed. Gerard later worked as a technical secretary for the Economic Cabinet of the Salinas administration. The couple had three children. Gerard gave birth to their eldest daughter, Ana Emilia Margarita, in January 1996. Patricio Gerónimo Gerardo was born 1998, while their youngest son, Mateo, was born in 2006. In early 2021, he obtained Spanish nationality through the procedure that grants it to descendants of
Sephardic Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
.


Early political career

Salinas was tapped by President
Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic a ...
to serve as Minister of Planning and Budget in 1982, a position that De la Madrid himself had previously held. It was a key cabinet position since Mexico was in dire financial circumstances following the presidency of
José López Portillo José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco (; 16 June 1920 – 17 February 2004) was a Mexican writer, lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th president of Mexico from 1976 t ...
, who as a desperate measure had nationalized the banks in Mexico and expropriated dollar-denominated savings accounts. The country held no hard currency reserves, exhaustion of foreign credit, and soaring interest rates. the Ministries of Finance and Planning and Budget became the most powerful positions to deal with the economic crisis. In the cabinet, Salinas's main rival was Jesús Silva Herzog, Minister of Finance. In the internecine politics that would decide who would succeed De la Madrid as president, Salinas sought to destroy the reputation of Silva Herzog. Another key figure in the cabinet was Manuel Bartlett, Minister of the Interior, with whom Salinas forged a non-compete alliance. Salinas also forged other alliances within the circles of power and did not directly compete with De la Madrid for public attention. Silva Herzog made missteps in his ministry, which Salinas capitalized on, forcing his resignation.


Presidential election 1988

According to historian
Enrique Krauze Enrique Krauze ( Mexico City, September 16, 1947) is a Mexican historian, essayist, editor, and entrepreneur. He has written more than twenty books, some of which are: ''Mexico: Biography of Power'', ''Redeemers'', and ''El pueblo soy yo'' (''I ...
, "Not in their worst nightmares could the lords of the PRI have imagined what would happen to them on the sixth of July 1988. As they had done six years before, the electorate came out to vote, but not in support of the official candidate. They came to the voting booths to punish him." Salinas had become presidential candidate in a difficult time for the PRI which for the first time was faced by significant opposition from the left ( National Democratic Front) and from the right ( National Action Party, PAN). The candidate of the PAN was
Manuel Clouthier Manuel de Jesús Clouthier del Rincón (June 13, 1934 – October 1, 1989) was a Mexican agriculturalist, businessman and politician. His 1988 presidential campaign challenged the dominance of Mexico's PRI party in the nation's politics, with ...
.
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano (; born 1 May 1934) is a Mexican prominent politician. The son of 51st President of Mexico Lázaro Cárdenas, he is a former Head of Government of Mexico City and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revol ...
, son of President
Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the Me ...
, registered as an opposing candidate from a left-wing coalition called ''Frente Democrático Nacional''. He rapidly became a popular figure, and became the first opposing candidate to fill the ''
Zócalo The Zócalo () is the common name of the main square in central Mexico City. Prior to the colonial period, it was the main ceremonial center in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Sq ...
'' with sympathizers and to seriously threaten the PRI, which had won all presidential elections since its inception in 1929. The Ministry of the Interior (
Secretaría de Gobernación The Mexican Secretariat for Home Affairs ( es, Secretaría de Gobernación, SEGOB, lit=Secretariat for Governance) is the public department concerned with the country's domestic affairs, the presenting of the president's bills to Congress, their ...
), through its Federal Electoral Commission, was the institution in charge of the electoral process, and installed a modern computing system to count the votes. On election day July 6, 1988, the system "crashed", and when it was finally restored, Carlos Salinas was declared the official winner. Even though the elections are extremely controversial, and some maintain that Salinas won legally, the expression ''se cayó el sistema'' ("the system crashed") became a colloquial euphemism for electoral fraud. As one observer put it, "For the ordinary citizen, it was not the computer network but the Mexican political system that had crashed." The process involved two suspicious shutdowns of the computer system used to keep track of the number of votes. Suspicions later grew as
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
voted (with support from the Revolutionary Institutional and National Action parties) to destroy without opening the electoral documentation. Other people believed that Salinas, in fact, won the ballot, albeit probably not with an absolute majority as the official figures suggested, although that is not required under Mexican election law. During a television interview in September 2005,
Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic a ...
acknowledged that the PRI lost the 1988 elections. However, he immediately clarified his comment by saying that the PRI had "at least lost a significant number of voters". Asked for comment on De la Madrid's statements, Senator Manuel Bartlett, who was the president of the Federal Electoral Commission ''(Comisión Federal Electoral)'' during the De la Madrid administration, declared Salinas won the election albeit with the smallest margin of any PRI candidate before him. He attributed De la Madrid's remarks to his old age (71 years old ) and the remarks being taken out of context by journalist
Carlos Loret de Mola Carlos Loret de Mola Álvarez (born October 17, 1976 in Mérida, Yucatán) is a Mexican journalist. He currently hosts the radio program ''Así las cosas con Carlos Loret de Mola'' on W Radio and is a contributor to '' El Universal''. Most re ...
. Ex-president Miguel de la Madrid admitted that the elections had been rigged.


Presidency 1988–1994


Cabinet

Salinas assumed the presidency on 1 December 1988 at the
Legislative Palace of San Lázaro The Legislative Palace of San Lázaro (Spanish: ''Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro'') is the main seat of the legislative power of the Mexican government, being the permanent meeting place of the Chamber of Deputies, as well as the seat of the w ...
. There he took oath before the
Congress of the Union The Congress of the Union ( es, Congreso de la Unión, ), formally known as the General Congress of the United Mexican States (''Congreso General de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos''), is the legislature of the federal government of Mexico con ...
. As the declared winner of a highly contested election, he had the task of restoring his own legitimacy and that of his party when he took office. The election had shown that much of the public desired reform, but Salinas appointed PRI hard-liners ("dinosaurs") to his cabinet, including Fernando Gutiérrez Barrios to the Ministry of the Interior; Manuel Bartlett to the Ministry of Education; and
Carlos Hank González Carlos Hank González (August 27, 1927–August 11, 2001), nicknamed ''El Profesor'' ("The Professor"), was a Mexican politician and businessman. Originally a teacher, he was an entrepreneur who built political contacts along with businesse ...
to Agriculture. The cabinet was cohesive in support of Salinas's
neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent f ...
policies. Many ministers were technocrats with graduate academic degrees, a profile similar to Salinas's. Although there was opposition to many of Salinas's policies, it came from outside the cabinet. Over the course of his presidency, he moved or replaced a number of cabinet ministers. A key replacement in January 1994 immediately after the
Chiapas conflict The Chiapas conflict ( Spanish: ''Conflicto de Chiapas'') comprises the 1994 Zapatista uprising, the 1995 Zapatista crisis and ensuing tension between the Mexican state and the indigenous peoples and subsistence farmers of Chiapas from the 1990 ...
was at the Ministry of the Interior (''Gobernación''), appointing Jorge Carpizo, who had been head of the government
National Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nation ...
and previously was rector of the
National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
. When the PRI candidate in the 1994 elections,
Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexic ...
was assassinated in March 1994, new restrictions barring cabinet ministers who had not resigned in the six months previous to the election date from being candidates for the presidency meant that Salinas had a small pool of eligible choices.


Domestic issues

In his inaugural address in December 1988, he outlined an ambitious and important goal of "modernizing" Mexico." He contended that "The modernization of Mexico is essential if we are to meet the demands of the 85 million Mexicans of today.... In brief, we need to modernize politics, the economy, and society. The modernization of Mexico is, moreover, an absolute imperative. This is the only way we will be able to affirm our sovereignty in a world undergoing profound transformation." During his six-year term in office (''sexenio'') major changes were made to the
Constitution of 1917 The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...
that affected political reform; church-state relations, ending many aspects of
anticlericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
restricting the Catholic Church and other religious organizations; agrarian reform, ending redistribution of land under Article 27; and policy changes on "indigenous peoples, human rights, economic activities of the state, ndcriminal due process."


First steps

Immediately upon his inauguration, he arrested prominent union leaders, many of whom were his opponents in the PRI, among other measures to demonstrate his determination to set his own course. His government privatized state-run companies, including Teléfonos de México, sold to PRI-insider
Carlos Slim Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by the '' Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from h ...
, as well as re-privatizing banks that President
José López Portillo José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco (; 16 June 1920 – 17 February 2004) was a Mexican writer, lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th president of Mexico from 1976 t ...
had nationalized at the end of his term. The funds from these sales of state assets helped pay off Mexico's internal debt. However, there were also bailouts for banks and the Mexican toll roads that became scandals.


Economic policy

Salinas continued with the
neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent f ...
economic policy of his predecessor
Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic a ...
and converted Mexico into a regulatory state. During his presidential term, he aggressively privatized hundreds of state-run companies, including telecommunications, steel, and mining. The banking system (that had been nationalized by
José López Portillo José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco (; 16 June 1920 – 17 February 2004) was a Mexican writer, lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th president of Mexico from 1976 t ...
) was privatized. His National Development Plan (''Plan Nacional de Desarrollo'') published in 1989 had 4 objectives: # Protecting sovereignty # Democracy # Economic recovery # Improving the living standard. By the end of his term, inflation had been reduced to 7% in 1994, the lowest figure in 22 years. Shortly after leaving office, due to the so-called December Mistake, inflation rose again to 51%. During his term, the peso devalued from 2.65 MXP to 3.60
MXN The Mexican peso (Currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: MXN) is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 16th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use dollar sign, its sign, "$". ...
per U.S. dollar by November 30, 1994, the last day of his term; thus the peso devalued far less than it had in the two previous terms. (The peso was later devalued from 4 per dollar to 7.2 in a single week due to the "December Mistake.")


Poverty alleviation

Salinas established the National Solidarity Program (PRONASOL), a social welfare program, as a way to directly aid poor Mexicans, but also create a network of support for Salinas. It was his first official act as president. The program channeled public funds, which the administration said came largely from privatization of state-owned companies, into impoverished areas to improve roads, the electrical grid, schools, and clinics in order to raise levels of education and health and link remote areas, with lack of oversight in its spending. The program was similar to those in other countries to manage the disruption and political costs of macroeconomic adjustment. Salinas's Harvard doctoral dissertation had examined the relationship between social programs and political support for the government. Given the Salinas's questionable legitimacy as the winner of the 1988 election, PRONASOL was seen as a way for Salinas to deliver immediate benefits to the poor and avert their turning to other political parties or worse. It did not prioritize funding for Mexico's poorest states, but rather to states with middle-income populations where elections were most contested and where the PRI had lost. Politically, the program sought to undermine the appeal of leftists, especially
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano (; born 1 May 1934) is a Mexican prominent politician. The son of 51st President of Mexico Lázaro Cárdenas, he is a former Head of Government of Mexico City and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revol ...
. In Chiapas, PRONASOL channeled increased funds in 1993 and 1994, but it did not prevent the
Zapatista uprising On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) coordinated a 12-day Zapatista uprising in the state of Chiapas, Mexico in protest of NAFTA's enactment. The revolt gathered international attention. Background Disease, ensl ...
, which showed that the program had only a limited impact.


Church-State relations

The Catholic Church and the Mexican government has had a historically fraught relationship, with restrictions on the church's role in national life. In the 1980s, the church saw electoral participation reform and fighting electoral fraud as an issue. Sometime during the presidential campaign, the PRI had indicated to the Church that a Salinas victory would be beneficial to the Church. It has been considered a quid pro quo agreement. A delegation of the leadership of the episcopal hierarchy attended the inauguration of Salinas on December 1, 1988. After the 1988 election the Mexican bishops did not make public statements about the election results. Behind the scenes the apostolic delegate to Mexico, the Vatican's representative, Mexican bishops, and government officials had a series of secret meetings that hammered out the outlines of a new Church-State relationship. In his inaugural address, Salinas de Gortari announced a program to "modernize" Mexico via structural transformation. "The modern state is a state which ... maintains transparency and updates its relation with political parties, entrepreneurial groups, and the church." His declaration was more an articulation of the direction of change, but not list of specifics. The implementation of reforms entailed amending the 1917 constitution, but before that overcoming opposition on the Left but also in the Catholic Church itself. After considerable debate, the Mexican legislature voted for fundamental revisions in Church-State policy.


Electoral reform

In the wake of the highly controversial 1988 election results, the government initiated a series of electoral reforms. A major change was the creation of the
Federal Electoral Institute The Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) (English for ''National Electoral Institute'') (formerly Federal Electoral Institute (, IFE)) is an autonomous, public agency responsible for organizing federal elections in Mexico, that is, those relate ...
(IFE) in October 1990, taking elections out of the hands of the Ministry of the Interior to create an independent entity. The 1994 elections were the first to have international observers, and were considered, at that time, the fairest elections in the century, although not free of controversy. For the first time, the PRI lost its two-thirds majority in Congress, which is necessary to conduct constitutional reforms.


Human rights

In 1990, the
National Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nation ...
(''Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos'') was created. Initially a government agency, it became a separate entity,


Education

In 1992, Salinas and his Secretary of Education,
Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was 61st president of Mexico from 1 December 1994 to 30 November 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from t ...
introduced new compulsory history texts in Mexican schools, part of the Mexican Free-Textbook Program. Authored by Enrique Florescano and
Héctor Aguilar Camín Héctor Aguilar Camín (born July 9, 1946) is a Mexican writer, journalist, and historian, director of '' Nexos'' magazine. ''Nexos'' was fined and banned for two years (2020-2022) from contracts with the Mexican Government (which had provided th ...
, the new textbooks set off a storm of controversy. Shifts in emphasis concerned the
Porfiriato , common_languages = , religion = , demonym = , currency = , leader1 = Porfirio Díaz , leader2 = Juan Méndez , leader3 = Porfirio Díaz , leader4 ...
and the role of foreign investment,
Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the ins ...
, lauding him as a hero despite his having opposed every government in power; U.S.-Mexico relations, avoiding negative treatment of the history; and the
Catholic Church in Mexico , native_name_lang = , image = Catedral_de_México.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = , caption = The Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. , abbreviation = , type = ...
, treating it dispassionately. The government was compelled to withdraw them in January 1993. According to one assessment, "While the 1992 textbook controversy disclosed new support for the regime from the right, it also revealed an erosion of support and discipline within officialdom."


North American Free Trade Agreement

The centerpiece of Salinas's presidency was his successful negotiation with the U.S. and Canada to create the
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
(NAFTA), which came into effect on 1 January 1994. The agreement was a reversal of Mexico's longstanding policies of economic nationalism and anti-Americanism and was intended to create a single market. Mexican proponents of NAFTA saw it in a way to secure markets for its exports and attract foreign investment, and create jobs, help the government to be able to service its foreign debt, and overall, promote economic recovery. In Mexico, the reversal was controversial, opposed by organized labor, many academics, and nongovernmental organizations.


Drug trafficking and corruption

An issue of importance both domestic and foreign policy is drug trafficking. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Mexico was a transit country for
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
produced in Colombia and destined for consumers in the United States. President De la Madrid considered drug trafficking a national security issue and devoted government funding to it. Salinas expanded this funding, but neither president stemmed the growth of trafficking and its impact on Mexico. Drug trafficking is highly lucrative for those involved with it, and Mexico's weak law enforcement and judicial system could not prevent the wide-scale involvement of Mexico's poorly-paid police from being corrupted. The Mexican military to a lesser extent was corrupted, along with politicians, and some journalists. Such corruption undermined the possibility of rule of law and it prevented Mexicans from having trust in the state. A rising level of violence by drug traffickers against the state, witnesses, journalists, and bystanders. The Mexican government did capture and jail some high-level drug mafia leaders, including
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his aliases ''El Jefe de Jefes'' ("The Boss of Bosses") and ''El Padrino'' ("The Godfather"), is a convicted Mexican drug lord Kingpin. He was one of the founders of th ...
in 1989, whose arrest made visible the extent of law enforcement collusion.


Foreign policy

Salinas negotiated the
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
(NAFTA), with the United States and Canada. Salinas also renegotiated Mexico's foreign debt. In 1990, Salinas had traveled to Europe to attract non-North American capital investment, but dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Soviet bloc opened them to foreign investment; Mexico was less attractive to them and Salinas turned to North America. Critics say that NAFTA has had mixed results for Mexico: while there has been huge increase in commerce and foreign investment, this has not been at all the case for employment and salaries. In 1992, Mexico hosted the Chapultepec Peace Accords, a venue where the parties in the civil war in El Salvador signed an accord ending the long conflict. Mexico reestablished diplomatic relations with the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
. Moreover, Mexico became member of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy, economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
(APEC) and the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...
(OECD). The First
Ibero-American Summit The Ibero-American Summit, formally the Ibero-American Conference of Heads of State and Governments ( es, Cumbres Iberoamericanas de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno, pt, Cimeiras (or Cúpulas) Ibero-Americanas de Chefes de Estado e de Governo), is ...
was held and the Chapultepec Peace Accords, a peace agreement for El Salvador, were signed. Salinas in 1991 visited United States to help convince the Illinois Governor, James R. Thompson to pardon four Mexican citizens from a quadruple murder known as the Milwaukee Ave Massacre, that took place in 1981 in Chicago, Illinois. With the help of Carlos Salinas de Gortari the four men, Joaquin Varela, Rogelio Arroyo, Ignacio Varela, and Isauro Sanchez, had their sentences commuted, later pardoned by Governor
Jim Edgar James Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who was the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. Previously he served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 1979 and as Illinois Secretary of State ...
.


1994 Election year

As the 1994 presidential election approached, Salinas had the crucial decision to designate the candidate for the PRI; that person had always gone on to win the presidential election. "The shipwreck of the 1988 succession should have sufficed to teach Salinas to prevent another disaster from befalling the system he had inherited." At the time Salinas made the choice, popularity and credibility was high over the course of his presidency, but a series of events in the final year of his presidency changed that.


Choosing the PRI Nominee

The "unveiling" of the PRI candidate for the presidency was on 28 November 1993, with Salinas choosing
Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexic ...
. Those considered for the position were
Manuel Camacho Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Ma ...
and Colosio, with earlier contenders, such as Jesús Silva Herzog and
Pedro Aspe Pedro Carlos Aspe Armella (born on in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican economist. He served as secretary of finance (1988 – 1994) in the cabinet of Carlos Salinas de Gortari, where he successfully renegotiated foreign debt, gave auton ...
being eliminated. Aspe, a graduate of
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
had a high international profile, but was considered unlikely to actually attract voters. The changed circumstances of the Mexican political system, as demonstrated by Salinas's own election to the presidency, meant that being designated the PRI did not guarantee election. Aspe was not a charismatic prospect as a candidate who could energize and charm voters. With the potential that Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas was likely to run again for the presidency, the PRI needed to field someone who could garner votes.


Zapatista rebellion

The uprising in Chiapas on 1 January 1994 coincided with the date that the NAFTA came into effect. The
Zapatista Army of National Liberation The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (, EZLN), often referred to as the Zapatistas (Mexican ), is a far-left political and militant group that controls a substantial amount of territory in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico. Since ...
(''Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional'', EZLN) issued their first declaration from the state of
Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...
in southern Mexico. Salinas's immediate response was to find for a peaceful solution: offering pardon to deposed arms; ordering a cease fire; appointing a peace negotiator, and sending Mexican Congress a General Amnesty Law. Salinas's presidential successor took a harder line when he was inaugurated. But Salinas's more peaceful solution to the
Zapatista uprising On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) coordinated a 12-day Zapatista uprising in the state of Chiapas, Mexico in protest of NAFTA's enactment. The revolt gathered international attention. Background Disease, ensl ...
was legal and politically pragmatic, likely saving many lives in Mexico. The Zapatista rebellion spread regionally, but not nationwide, but the fact that it happened and that international attention was drawn to this poor region of Mexico just as NAFTA was implemented meant that Salinas's careful plans for a peaceful political transition with his legacy intact were obliterated. Salinas appointed Manuel Camacho, Minister of Foreign Affairs, as the government's peace mediator. For Salinas, this had political benefits, since Camacho, having been passed over as the PRI presidential candidate, could have bolted from the party. With this important appointment, he was in the public limelight again.


Assassination of Colosio and the new PRI Candidate

A spectacular political event of 1994 was the assassination of Salinas's handpicked PRI presidential candidate
Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexic ...
in March 1994, upending the already complex electoral situation with elections scheduled for August 1994. The Zapatista uprising had ruined Salinas's plans for a peaceful transition of Mexico in the elections. There is evidence that Salinas and Colosio began to disagree, not unusual after the electoral transfer, but this occurred prior to it. His campaign languished with lack of funding, Colosio had problems getting media coverage, given the high-profile events in Chiapas. Salinas prevented Colosio from going to Chiapas, while the explanation that his presence there would complicate the situation. Increasingly there was the impression that Salinas would reverse his decision for Colosio, substituting someone else, perhaps
Manuel Camacho Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Ma ...
. Camacho was a politically savvy former
Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
,
Head of Government of Mexico City The Head of Government ( es, Jefe de Gobierno) wields the executive power in Mexico City. The Head of Government serves a six-year term, running concurrently with that of the President of the Republic. Mexico City, or CDMX, is the seat of nat ...
as well as Peace Commissioner in Chiapas. Salinas made a public statement on 17 January 1994, affirming his choice as candidate, but this was at the insistence of Colosio. Salinas extracted a pledge from Camacho that he had no designs on the presidency, which he renounced the day before Colosio's assassination in Tijuana 23 March 1994. After a few days of weighing his options, Salinas chose Colosio's campaign manager, Ernesto Zedillo, former Minister of Education, as the new PRI candidate for the presidency. Zedillo had been Secretary of Education, a relatively unimportant ministry; he had resigned to run the campaign of Colosio. Zedillo had never held elective office, sharing that trait with De la Madrid and Salinas, but Zedillo was not otherwise experienced politically. He was perceived as a weak candidate. There are speculation that Salinas wished to perpetuate his power as
Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...
had in the wake of the 1928 assassination of president-elect Alvaro Obregón, controlling successor presidents.


1994 General Election

After considering whether to postpone the general election scheduled for 21 August 1994, Salinas chose Zedillo to run as the PRI candidate for the presidency and the elections took place as scheduled. Voters came out in large numbers to choose between three main candidates, Zedillo for the PRI, Cárdenas for the Party of Democratic Revolution, and
Diego Fernández de Cevallos Diego Fernández de Cevallos Ramos (; born 16 March 1941) is a Mexican politician affiliated with the conservative National Action Party (PAN). He was a presidential candidate in the 1994 election and President of the Mexican Senate. Life ...
for the PAN. Zedillo won a clear victory, in what were considered by foreign observers as free and fair. In results published by the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), Zedillo got 48.7%, Cevallos 25.9%, and Cárdenas 16.6%.


Another political assassination

Following the election in September 1994, Secretary General of the PRI
José Francisco Ruiz Massieu José Francisco Ruiz Massieu (July 22, 1946 – September 28, 1994) was a Mexican political figure. He was governor of Guerrero from 1987 to 1993. He then served as the secretary-general of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 199 ...
, Salinas' former brother-in-law, was assassinated in downtown Mexico City in broad daylight. The murder was not solved during Salinas's presidency, even when Mario Ruiz Massieu (Francisco's brother) was the
attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
and in charge of the investigation.


Economic issues

The economic bubble gave Mexico a prosperity not seen in a generation. This period of rapid growth coupled with low inflation prompted some political thinkers and the media to state that Mexico was on the verge of becoming a "First World nation". In fact, it was the first of the "newly industrialized nations" to be admitted into the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...
(OECD) in May 1994. It was known that the peso was overvalued, but the extent of the Mexican economy's vulnerability was either not well known or downplayed by both the Salinas administration and the media. This vulnerability was further aggravated by several unexpected events and macroeconomic mistakes made in the last year of his administration. Several economists and historians have analyzed some of the events and policy mistakes that precipitated the crisis of December 1994. In keeping with the PRI election-year practices, Salinas launched a spending spree to finance popular projects, which translated into a historically high deficit. This budget deficit was coupled with a current account deficit, fueled by excessive consumer spending as allowed by the overvalued peso. In order to finance this deficit, the Salinas administration issued ''tesobonos'', an attractive debt instrument that insured payment in dollars instead of pesos. Increasing current account deficit fostered by government spending, caused alarm among Mexican and foreign T-bill (''tesobono'') investors, who sold them rapidly, thereby depleting the already-low central bank reserves (which eventually hit a record low of $9 billion). The economically orthodox thing to do, in order to maintain the fixed exchange rate (at 3.3 pesos per dollar, within a variation band), would have been to sharply increase interest rates by allowing the monetary base to shrink, as dollars were being withdrawn from the reserves. Given the fact that it was an election year, whose outcome might have changed as a result of a pre-election-day economic downturn, the
Bank of Mexico The Bank of Mexico ( es, Banco de México), abbreviated ''BdeM'' or ''Banxico,'' is Mexico's central bank, monetary authority and lender of last resort. The Bank of Mexico is autonomous in exercising its functions, and its main objective is to ac ...
decided to buy Mexican Treasury Securities in order to maintain the monetary base, and thus prevent the interest rates from rising. This, in turn, caused an even more dramatic decline in the dollar reserves. These decisions aggravated the already delicate situation, to a point at which a crisis became inevitable and devaluation was only one of many necessary adjustments.


Successor first days crises


Peso devaluation

Soon after taking office, Zedillo announced that his government would let the fixed exchange rate band increase 15 percent (up to 4 pesos per US$), by stopping the unorthodox measures employed by the previous administration to keep it at the previous fixed level (e.g., by selling dollars, assuming debt, and so on). This measure, however, was not enough, and the government was unable to hold this line, and decided to let the exchange rate float. While experts agree that devaluation was necessary, some critics of Zedillo's 22-day-old administration argue that, although economically coherent, the way the crisis was handled was a political mistake. By having announced its plans for devaluation, they argue that many foreigners withdrew their investments, thus aggravating the effects. Whether the effects were aggravated further or not, the result was that the peso crashed under a floating regime from four pesos to the dollar (with the previous increase of 15%) to 7.2 to the dollar in the space of a week. Mexican businesses with debts to be paid in dollars, or that relied on supplies bought from the United States, suffered an immediate hit, with mass industrial lay-offs and several suicides. To make matters worse, the devaluation announcement was made mid-week, on a Wednesday, and for the remainder of the week foreign investors fled the Mexican market without any government action to prevent or discourage the flight until the following Monday, when it was too late. Salinas faced widespread criticism in Mexico. He was widely blamed for the collapse of the economy and his privatization of several government-run businesses such as Telmex. With respect to the collapse of the economy, he rapidly responded by blaming Zedillo's "inept" handling of the situation, coining the term "December mistake" to refer to the crisis and Zedillo's mistakes. He then argued that he had talked to Zedillo of a possibility of "sharing the burden" of the devaluation by allowing the peso to devaluate a certain percent before his term was over, and the rest of the necessary devaluation would have been done during Zedillo's administration.


Zapatista Crisis

Initially the Zedillo administration followed Salinas's policies regarding the negotiations with the Zapatistas, pledging to reach a peaceful resolution to the Chiapas crisis. Zedillo then reversed course and on February 9, 1995, identifying
Subcomandante Marcos Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente (born 19 June 1957) is a Mexican insurgent, the former military leader and spokesman for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in the ongoing Chiapas conflict,Pasztor, S. B. (2004). Marcos, Subcoman ...
to be Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente, and pursued military intervention. He abandoned that unsuccessful strategy and peace talks were subsequently re-established. Zedillo's zigzag policies in Chiapas were consistent with some others of his administration.


Break with Zedillo, Raúl Salinas arrest and self-exile

Ernesto Zedillo had been an accidental presidential candidate who had no political experience or independent base of power. There was a perception that Salinas wanted to follow the precedent of
Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...
who wielded tremendous power over three successor presidents following the 1928 assassination of president-elect Alvaro Obregón. However, this changed when by order of president Zedillo Salinas's older brother
Raúl Salinas Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
was arrested on 28 February 1995 under charges of orchestrating the assassination of Ruiz Massieu; the arrest dramatically shifted the political situation. Since 1940 when president
Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the Me ...
left the presidency and turned power over to his successor, Mexican former presidents had not directly intervened in politics. After the arrest of his brother, Salinas went on television, expressing his outrage at Zedillo. In the broadcast he placed the blame for the December peso crisis on Zedillo, resulting in the loss of Mexican jobs, bankruptcies, and the tarnishing of Mexico's image. Salinas abandoned his campaign—which had been backed by the United States—to become the Director-General of the
World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...
and left Mexico City, going to Monterrey where he staged a publicized hunger strike in the home of a PRI supporter.
Arturo Warman Arturo ('Jack') Warman Gryj (September 9, 1937–October 21, 2003) was a Mexican anthropologist, member of the cabinets of Carlos Salinas and Ernesto Zedillo, also an author of nine books, two of which have been translated to English. He also ...
, Minister of Agrarian Reform, was sent to Monterrey to persuade Salinas to return to Mexico City. Salinas demanded that the government issue a statement clearing him of responsibility for the Colosio case and the December 20 devaluation. Salinas returned to Mexico City and he and Zedillo met. Zedillo's government issued a statement absolving Salinas of the Colosio murder and tempered his criticism of Salinas in the peso crisis. Salinas left Mexico for self-imposed exile and settled in Ireland for a period.


Post-Presidential years

Salinas's reputation was to be further clouded by a series of controversies involving close family members. His brother Raúl had been arrested in February 1995. In November 1995, Raúl's wife, Paulina Castañón, and his brother-in-law, Antonio Castañón, were arrested in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, after attempting to withdraw US$84 million from an account owned by Raúl Salinas under an alias. Their capture led to the unveiling of a vast fortune spread around the world and amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, even though Raúl Salinas had never officially received an annual income of more than $190,000. A report by the U.S.
General Accounting Office The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal gover ...
indicated that Raúl Salinas had transferred over $90 million out of Mexico into private bank accounts in London and Switzerland through a complex set of transactions between 1992 and 1994. In 2008, the government of Switzerland turned over $74 million, out of the $110 million in frozen bank accounts held by Raúl Salinas, to the government of Mexico. The Swiss Justice Ministry indicated that the Mexican government had demonstrated that $66 million of the funds had been misappropriated, and the funds, with interest, were returned to Mexico. The Salinas family would not receive back any of the frozen funds. In 1997, while Salinas was in exile and his brother Raúl in jail, their father, Raúl Salinas Lozano was accused in a U.S court of being connected to drug dealing by a convicted Mexican trafficker, Magdalena Ruiz Pelayo; the senior Salinas denied the charges. Salinas divorced his first wife, Cecilia Occelli González, in 1995 soon after leaving office. That same year he married his second wife, Ana Paula Gerard. In January 1999, after a four-year trial, Salinas' older brother Raúl was convicted of ordering the murder of the PRI official (and Salinas' brother-in-law)
José Francisco Ruiz Massieu José Francisco Ruiz Massieu (July 22, 1946 – September 28, 1994) was a Mexican political figure. He was governor of Guerrero from 1987 to 1993. He then served as the secretary-general of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 199 ...
and sentenced to 50 years in prison. In July 1999, an appeals court cut the sentence to years. In June 2005, the conviction was overturned, and Raúl Salinas was freed. On December 6, 2004, Salinas's youngest brother,
Enrique Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (D ...
, was found dead in
Huixquilucan Huixquilucan Municipality is one of the municipalities in State of Mexico, Mexico. It lies adjacent to the west side of the Federal District (Distrito Federal) and is part of Greater Mexico City but independent of Mexico City itself. The name " ...
,
Estado de México The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...
, inside his car with a plastic bag strapped around his head. The case remains unsolved. In the last years of Zedillo's term, Carlos Salinas returned to Mexico to announce the publication of his book, ''Mexico: The Policy and the Politics of Modernization''. Written during his stay in Ireland and full of quotations from press articles and political memoirs, it defended his achievements and blamed Zedillo for the crisis that followed his administration. As of May 2010, Salinas was still living in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
, Ireland. Salinas also attended his son's civil wedding in Mexico City and promised to attend the subsequent religious wedding in late September. Salinas returned to Mexico in the late 1990s and has continued to influence Mexican politics since then. In April 2018, he celebrated his 70th birthday with a party attended by a number of political elites. On 5 December 2018, he attended George H. W. Bush's funeral.


Public opinion and legacy

Salinas de Gortari remains a highly controversial figure in Mexican history. In a 2005 national survey conducted by Parametría, 73% of the respondents had a negative image of Salinas de Gortari, 9% had a positive opinion, and 18% had no opinion about him. In another national survey conducted in 2012 by BGC-Excelsior about former Presidents, Salinas de Gortari by far received the worst rating: 20% of the respondents considered that his administration was "very good" or "good", 13% of the responded considered that it was an "average" administration, and 66% of the respondents considering that it was a "bad" or "very bad" administration.


In popular culture

In the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
series '' Narcos: Mexico'' (2018), "the President-elect" a character based on Salinas is portrayed by actor
Adolfo Madera Adolfo may refer to: * Adolfo, São Paulo, a Brazilian municipality * Adolfo (designer), Cuban-born American fashion designer * Adolfo or Adolf Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in ...
. Season 2 episode 6 depicts two young boys playing war and shooting a maid and episodes 7 and 8 depict the 1988 Mexican Presidential election. Salinas was prominently featured in two Netflix series released in 2019, pertaining to the Colosio assassination: as an interviewee in the documentary series ''
1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...
'', and portrayed by Ari Brickman in the drama series '' Crime Diaries: The Candidate''.


Honours


Foreign honours

*: ** Knight of the Collar of the
Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...
(1990) *: ** Honorary Recipient of the
Order of the Crown of the Realm The Most Exalted Order of the Crown of the Realm ( ms, Darjah Utama Seri Mahkota Negara) is a Malaysian federal award. It is ranked lower than the Order of the Royal Family of Malaysia. It should not be confused with the Order of Loyalty to th ...
(1991) * ** Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (1993)


See also

*
List of heads of state of Mexico The Head of State of Mexico is the person who controls the executive power in the country. Under the current constitution, this responsibility lies with the President of the United Mexican States, who is head of the supreme executive power of th ...
*
History of Mexico The written history of Mexico spans more than three millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, central and southern Mexico (termed Mesoamerica) saw the rise and fall of complex indigenous civilizations. Mexico would later develop ...
*
Politics of Mexico The politics of Mexico take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic whose government is based on a congressional system, whereby the President of Mexico is both head of state and head of government, a ...


References

* Salinas's book, print edition: Carlos Salinas de Gortari, ''México, un paso difícil a la modernidad'' (Mexico, a difficult step into modern times), Plaza & Janés, . * ''Mexico under Salinas'', Mexico Resource Center, Austin, TX, by Philip L. Russell. .


Further reading

* Castañeda, Jorge G. ''Perpetuating Power: How Mexican Presidents Were Chosen''. New York: The New Press 2000. * * * Krauze, Enrique, ''Mexico: Biography of Power''. New York: HarperCollins 1997. * *Oppenheimer, Andrés. ''Bordering on Chaos: Guerillas, Stockbrokers, Aoliticians, and Mexico's Road to Prosperity''. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1996. * *Serrano, Mónica and Victor Bulmer-Thomas, eds. ''Rebuilding the State: Mexico After Salinas''. London: Institute of Latin American Studies, 1996. * * *


External links

*
Extended biography and presidential tenure by CIDOB Foundation
*

of Manuel Bartlett to De la Madrid remarks. * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Salinas de Gortari, Carlos Presidents of Mexico Institutional Revolutionary Party politicians * Mexican economists Mexican expatriates in Ireland Harvard Kennedy School alumni National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni People from Mexico City 1948 births Living people Exiled Mexican politicians Mexican Roman Catholics Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic 20th-century Mexican politicians Members of the Order of Jamaica Recipients of the Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay