Mexican Political History

Events

Mexican Revolution

1910 - 1920

Overthrow Diaz's regime

First Battle of Ciudad Juárez

1911

Madero's troops, under protection of Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco attack federal troops in Ciudad Juárez; hundreds watch from rooftops and train cars. Battle lasts 3 days
Having lost, Diaz flees to Paris, France.

Orozco breaks his alliance with Madero

1912

Madero assigs Pancho Villa and Victoriano Huerta to combat Orozco's rebels

La Decena Tragica

1913

Huerta joins Felix Diaz and Bernardo Reyes in planning a coup against Madero. In Mexico City, the forces of Huerta, Diaz, and Reyes attack Madero's army.

Pancho Villa invades U.S.

1916

Invades Columbus, New Mexico
U.S. sends the National Guard to the border

1917 Constitution

1917

Based on 1857 Constitution
Presidents and officeholders cannot run for reelection
Power of Church is limited
Foreigners cannot own Mexican land or resources
Haciendas are broken up with compensation

Modern Mexico

1934 - 2013

PEMEX

1938

Nationalized oil industry
Encouraged rapid economic growth and industrialization

First Social Security System

1946

Put in place by Camacho

Strikes by railroad engineers throughout the 1950s

1950

Repressed by force

Women Get the Right to Vote

1953

Women get to vote for federal elections

Telephone workers go on strike throughout the 1960s

1960

Repressed by force

Tlatelolco Massacre

1968

Students and civilians protested the government's actions, and listen peacefully to speachees, gathered in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas; they, as well as the bystanders, were killed by Mexican government employees.

Beginning of Modern Women's Movement

1975

Beginning of the modern women's movement
Protests against the "macho" Mexican culture
Began with 1975 kick off of International Women's Year

Nine Hundred Demonstrations

1985 - 1988

The PRI rigged presidential elections; opposition had 900 demonstrations to protest the fraud/cheating.

1989 Municipal Elections

1989

Opposition seizes over one hundred town halls to protest the electoral fraud.

Mexico becomes part of NAFTA

1994

North American Free Trade Agreement
Trilateral trade between the United States, Mexico, and Canada

Federal Election Institute (IFE)

1997

Completely independent election supervising entity

Leaders

Porfirio Díaz

1887 - 1911

Dictator
Encouraged foreign exploitation of natural wealth
Mexico becomes a metropolis
First to introduce nonreelection

Emiliano Zapata

1910 - 1919

Hero of southern peasants
Redistribution of agrarian land
Liberation Army of the South (Zapatistas)
Assassinated

Pancho Villa

1910 - 1923

Hero of rural north
Feared by politicians especially if they lost his support
Invaded the U.S.
Assassinated

Francisco Huerta

1911 - 1913

Assassinated

Victoriano Huerta

1913 - 1914

Driven from Mexico
Hated by U.S. and Mexicans

Venustiano Carranza

1914 - 1920

Assassinated
Made 1917 Constitution

Álvaro Obregón

1920 - 1928

Plutarco Elías Calles

1928 - 1935

Helps to create the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)

Lazaro Cárdenas

1934 - 1940

President
Mobilized peasants
ejidos- collective farms
encouraged worker unions
Supported the constitution
Nationalized oil
Withdrew after his term as President; end of active political life

Miguel de la Madrid

1982 - 1988

Market-oriented President
High unemployment and interest rates

Carlos Salina de Gortari

1988 - 1994

Won election because of fraud/deceit
Corruption and repression: authorities regularly tortured and occasionally killed
Continued market-oriented policies

Ernesto Zedillo

1994 - 2000

Won election fairly
Financial Crisis
Scandals lead to loss of PRI's popularity

Vicente Fox

2000 - 2006

End of PRI "reign"
Political party: PAN
Often criticized for his actions and choice of words

Felipe Calderón

2006 - 2012

Political Party: PAN
PRD threatened to not allow him to take the oath of office
Tortilla Price Stabilization Pact
First Employment Program

Enrique Peña Nieto

2012 - present

Political Party: PRI
Before and after his inauguration, protesters rioted outside the national palace; clashing with Federal Police