Main Political Groups in Mexico

The Mexican Reality:
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Main Mexican Political Groups:
Most Mexican political groups exist within parties. This list doesn't pretend to be comprehensive, nor to show complete information. It is included here just to give a clearer idea of the Mexican Reality.

Within the PRI
there are several different political groups. One shouldn't allow the official names to cheat oneself. There are many organizations within the structure of the PRI. An outline of them will be included later in this website. The political groups within that party are not restricted to its inner organizational boundaries*:
There are two major streams: The polďż˝ticos and the tďż˝cnicos.
The polďż˝ticos
or "Politicians", as you may guess, are old members of the PRI, named by journalists, politicians and analists "the old guard", and "the dinosaurs". It is very important to state that people shouldn't be despised because of their age. However, it is part of the Mexican contemporary culture to despise everyone over 50. Since the De la Madrid misadministration (1982-88), when most executive positions within the Government were occupied by people under 40, the despise against senior citizens has been growing constantly.
The majority of the polďż˝ticos are not nice people. These so-called "Politicians" regard Politics in much the same way the Cuban communists do: Politics is to be practiced exclusively within their own political party, and Democracy should exist only in appearance while everyone occupying a "Popular election" position should be secretly appointed by the President. All elections must be won by candidates belonging to their own political party (the PRI). Political opposition must be repressed with all the violence required. Media must be controlled, and access of oppositionists to it must be blocked. The Polďż˝ticos share other points of view with the left: The State must control the whole or the majority of the economic activity. The State must set prices and wages. The State must support every demand from the working class if it is convenient to the interests of the Presidente and his group. Otherwise, it has to be crushed... with violence, if required. The Government must issue large amounts of currency and indulge itself in deficitary budgets and burocratism to promote economic growth by means of inflation. All imports must be forbidden or heavily taxed. The diplomatic relationships must be aimed to create conflicts with the United States, Europe and all developed countries, and must tend to a Latin American integrism aimed to create a greater conflict with the United States.
Belonging to this sector of the PRI there are several groups:
The PRIist Union Leaders.
Led by the foul-mouthed Gaspar Rodrďż˝guez, these men have control over the so-called Union Centrals, large organisations formed by labour unions. They are notorious because of their power, because of their submissiveness to the Presidente and because of their hate against political opposition. Despite their leftist speech, they were prone to accept the North Atlantic Trade Agreement, and the Euro-Mexican Trade Agreeement because they were promoted by the ruling Presidente. Elba Ester Gordillo, leader of the Teachers' Union, is linked ideologically and politically to this group but she's not a member because of the brutal macho culture prevailing in it.
The Echeverrďż˝a and Lďż˝pez Portillo Group.
This one is formed mainly by those who were governors, ministers and congressmen during the 1970-1982 period, around these two former Presidentes who implemented populist economic policies.

The Tďż˝cnicos Stream.
The Tďż˝cnicos are followers of the free-market ideas: Freedom of enterprise, freedom of trade. With most of their leaders being proud graduates from the most prestigiousAmerican Universities, they share much of the points of view with the American ruling class: They think it is convenient to allow the media to express freely, to have democratic elections, to allow political competition, and to have a market economy, with little or null interference from the Government, which has to have a balanced or superavitary budget. Monetary policy must be aimed to mantain the domestic price stability. Wages must be kept under control. Free trade agreements must be signed with as much countries as possible, and cooperation must be sought with the United States and Europe. The American Way has to be imported and implanted in Mexico... all this as long as this doesn't put in danger their possesion of the Presidency- this is a peculiarity of them. It is important to keep in mind that while most of what is told about them makes them to appear as the "good guys", they are not real democratic people. What they want is to possess the entire country as their own personal property. Within this stream there are two major, powerful groups, much linked to each other:
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The Salinas Group.
This group is, of course, integred by followers and associates of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Some members of it are: Pedro Aspe, Jaime Serra, Emilio Gamboa, Guillermo Ortiz, and Patricio Chirinos. Aspe was Salinas' Minister of Finance; Serra, of Trade; Gamboa, of Communications and Transportation; Chirinos, of Ecology; and Ortiz was Undersecretary of Finance. Currently, Aspe and Serra are voluntarily exiled in the United States; Gamboa is a member of the Labastida campaign team (Read); Chirinos is Federal Administrator of Airports, and Ortiz is Governor of Mexico's Central Bank (Read). A peripheric member of the Salinas Group is Francisco Labastida, current Candidate to the Presidency of Mexico.

Undefined Groups:

The Atlacomulco Group.
This group takes its name from Atlacomulco, a small town in the State of Mexico, near the four-cornered state border of Michoacďż˝n, Jalisco, Guanajuato and the State of Mexico, where the mighty Carlos Hank lives. This political group is, like its head and founder, undefined within the PRI. Herr Hank begun his political career as a poor rural teacher. He met Luis Echeverrďż˝a and Josďż˝ Lďż˝pez Portillo before they got to the Presidency, and was Governor of the State of Mexico under Echeverrďż˝a, Mexico City Major under Lďż˝pez Portillo, and Minister of Agrarian Reform under Salinas. A political survivor, Hank has somehow managed to become one of Mexico's richest tycoons. He appears in Forbes' billionaries list with U.S. $ 1 billon.
The political importance of Hank is much because he ows the State of Mexico: Nothing can be done in political or economical affairs there without his permission, and that state is one of the country's richest and more productive, despite the tremendous corruption within its political authorities. "El Profesor" -as he's called- has invested several million dollars in the Zedillo presidential campaign when Zedillo was a member of the Salinas Group in 1994 and also financed Manuel Bartlett's internal campaign for the Presidency in 1999 despite the fact Bartlett is one of the most fanatical and potentially violent "Polďż˝ticos".

The Gutiďż˝rrez Barrios Group.
This is one of the lesser known ones. Fernando Gutiďż˝rrez is a retired Colonel of the Mexican Army with a dark career in the State's security forces. He emerged to public light when he was appointed Governor of Veracruz in 1986 by De la Madrid. He gained strength when Salinas appointed him Minister of Inner Affairs in 1988, but his popularity fell when Salinas forced him to resign in January 1993. Gutiďż˝rrez is regarded as a "dinosaur", and for some cause he's feared, very feared by all the Mexican politicians and tycoons. Gutiďż˝rrez is appointed -but noone has ever proved this- to have close links with the new parties Convergencia Democrďż˝tica -led by his friend Dante Delgado, interine Governor of Veracruz when he left in 1988- and Partido Centro Democrďż˝tico of Manuel Camacho.
A Communist Group within the PRI
Believe it or not, there is at least one Communist group within the PRI. It's integred mainly by the leaders of two far-left organisations, the
UGOCP:
Uniďż˝n General Obrera Campesina Popular- General Popular Workers and Peasants Union
Antorcha Campesina
Peasant Torch
These two infamous associations gather thousands of miserable people who are de facto nomads, going from one property to the other, kicking off their owners, and harvesting to give the profits to their leaders till they give them a piece of land to live and work in, which they are free to keep as long as they remain loyal to them and as long as they don't change their minds.
The main link between these two organizations and the PRI is Raďż˝l Salinas de Gortari, a radical Marxist who is also brother of former Presidente Carlos Salinas de Gortari (Champion of the neo-liberals). The PRI uses these two organisations to terrorize peasants who don't agree to support the PRI or who are an obstacle for the ambitions of PRIist leaders.

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