PRI Faces Minicrises before Presidential Campaign Is Fully under Way

Navarro, Carlos, SourceMex Economic News & Analysis on Mexico

Mexico's presidential election took an interesting twist even before the presidential campaigns officially get underway in March 2012. Two developments, perhaps related, appear to have taken the governing Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) down a notch in the eyes of the public. The first development was the resignation of party president Humberto Moreira, who was unable to shake off a financial scandal that followed him after he left his post as governor of Coahuila state.

The other development involved PRI candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, whose public blunder at the International Book Fair (Feria Internacional del Libro, FIL) in Guadalajara appeared to confirm some allegations that the ex-Mexico state governor is a puppet of the PRI hierarchy. When asked to name his favorite books, Pena Nieto was unable to provide an adequate response. And when he did name one book, he got the author wrong. Some suggest that Moreira might have been able to prevent Pena Nieto's blunder if he had not resigned.

Allegations of corruption force PRI president to resign

The timing of Moreira's resignation on Dec. 2 came as a surprise, since the PRI's unofficial presidential campaign was finally gaining traction after Sen. Manlio Fabio Beltrones dropped his bid to seek the …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: PRI Faces Minicrises before Presidential Campaign Is Fully under Way. Contributors: Navarro, Carlos - Author. Magazine title: SourceMex Economic News & Analysis on Mexico. Publication date: December 7, 2011. Page number: 3. © 2009 Latin American Data Base/Latin American Institute. COPYRIGHT 2011 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.