Page 51 - STRATEGY Magazine

process that continues today. While the nation’s economy improved, lit- tle changed for Mexico’s poor, who in 1910 remained in virtual serf- dom with 95 percent of rural fami- lies landless, a condition that led to a decade-long conflict known as the Mexican Revolution. Eventually the Constitution of 1917 architected an end to 400 years of feudalism, but in the process a different sort of servi- tude was ushered in with the ascen- sion to power of what would become the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which controlled Mexico’s gov- ernment from 1929 through 1997.
Peace reigned and the following landmark reforms were accomplished under PRI: rural schools and hydro- electric power facilities constructed, labor unions strengthened, irriga- tion projects developed, petroleum industry nationalized, steps taken to combat air pollution, develop public green spaces, and reinvigorate the oil industry. However, massive for- eign debt was incurred, the peso was devalued, and citizens grew increas- ingly discontented with PRI domina- tion. Finally, in 1996 the governing PRI and principal opposition parties signed landmark reform to eliminate PRI’s control of election procedures and vote counting, limit campaign spending, and add 17 constitutional amendments.
In the 1997 elections, two allied PRI opposition parties gained control of the lower house of Mexico’s congress, and three years later, PAN candidate Vicente Fox won the presidency, end- ing more than seven decades of PRI supremacy and ushering the nation into true multiparty democracy.
Mexico faces financial crisis,
and an earthquake kills almost 10,000 people. These calamities, however, lead to the birth of grassroots social and civic groups.
THE EMPIRE TODAY
Mexico’s official name is the United Mexican States. It is the 14th-largest country in the world, with an area of nearly two million square kilometers (755,000 square miles), a region ap- proximately equivalent to the whole of Western Europe. On its northern border lies the United States, while
I don’t think that high-ranking government officials are in- herently corrupt, even though we have had cases of corrup- tion in this presidency. I think most of the people who are involved in the government at high levels, even within Méx- ico City and the federal gov- ernment, are inherently look- ing out for the best interest of the country. —Ilan Katz Mayo, Partner, Katz & Gudiño, S.C.
to the south are the Central Ameri- can countries of Belize and Guate- mala. The northern border with the United States is the second-longest international border in the world, at more than 3,200 kilometers (1,989 miles).
With a population expected to reach almost 130 million inhabitants by the end of 2017, according to the World Bank, Mexico is the world’s 10th- most populous nation. It has the larg-
est population of Spanish speakers in the world as well as the second-high- est number of Catholics after Brazil, with the population is growing at 1.24 percent annually. Most inhab- itants (79 percent) live in urban ar- eas, with approximately one-sixth of the population living in the Greater México City area. Average life expec- tancy in Mexico is 76.9 years, putting the nation 93rd among all countries.
POLITICAL CHECKS AND BALANCES
The nation’s structure as a federal republic with 31 states and the po- litical capital of México City stems from the Constitution of 1917. Three branches comprise the federal gov- ernment—the executive, a bicamer- al legislature, and the judiciary. The president is elected by simple major- ity popular vote for a six-year term and is supported by a cabinet of 18 secretaries and the Attorney General. The legislative branch, known as the Congress of the Union, is divided into the Senate, with 128 seats elected to six-year terms, and the Chamber of Deputies, with 500 representatives serving three-year terms. Eight na- tional political parties are registered, although the four largest hold most elected posts at the federal and state levels.
In 2015, an independent candidate won a state governorship, a first for an independent in Mexico. Owing to the scope of the political parties, since 1997 no single party has held an absolute majority in either legis- lative chamber, a circumstance that has catalyzed the formation of alli- ances between parties. Three parties
The peso nosedives and President Ernesto Zedillo must deal with a banking crisis. He accepts US$20
billion in loans from the United States and implements economic austerity to stabilize the currency.
The PAN’s Vicente Fox breaks the national grip of the PRI, win- ning the presidency gaining control of
ongress for his party. A conservative former, Fox seeks to improve trade ith the United States and reduce crime
nd corruption in Mexico.
Enrique Peña Nieto is elected. His admin- istration kickstarts a new era of economic and social reforms, including opening
veral national industries to tside investment.
MEXICO TODAY
The candidate for the PRI, which has domi- nated elections for nearly 70 years, loses to the PRD’s Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas in México City’s mayoral election. This foreshadows a breakthrough for multiparty rule.
Pro-business candidate Felipe Calderón wins a narrow presidential victory. Facing massive protests, he works to address other issues, like poverty and social injustice.
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The leaders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada sign NAFTA, which will phase out the barriers that have hindered trade among the three nations.
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