Ciudad de México (México), 1948

By Fernando Antonio da Costa Vieira

President of Mexico from 1988 to 1994, Salinas de Gortari was chosen as a candidate due to his success as Finance Secretary under Miguel de la Madrid’s administration (1982-1988). He advocated for economic reforms in a context of severe economic crisis, which had led to Mexico’s debt moratorium and a rapid inflation surge.

After being nominated by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for the presidential succession, he won against Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas. The election, however, was marred by suspicions of fraud—during vote counting, the computer systems crashed, and when they resumed, they showed the PRI candidate in the lead, affecting Salinas de Gortari’s legitimacy as president.

Seeking to regain control of the political situation, Salinas de Gortari opened negotiations with the Vatican, leading to the reform of laws that had previously denied voting rights to clergy members. All churches were recognized as legal entities capable of owning property.

Economically, his administration aimed to restore credibility in the financial sector by reversing the 1982 bank nationalization and renegotiating external debt with international creditors.

In practice, Salinas de Gortari introduced neoliberal policies to Mexico. He began dismantling public institutions, privatizing essential sectors of the economy, and initiated negotiations that led to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada.

In effect since January 1, 1994, NAFTA opened Mexico’s economy to U.S. and Canadian capital, increasing Mexico’s focus on agricultural exports, but also destabilizing the economy, deepening recession and unemployment, and encouraging the arrival of maquiladora industries in the country.

Additionally, Salinas de Gortari reformed electoral legislation, transferring election control away from the Ministry of the Interior in an effort to reduce fraud suspicions that tainted Mexican elections.

His administration was marked by corruption scandals involving his family members and the assassination of the PRI’s chosen successor, Luis Donaldo Colosio. Suspicions that Salinas and his close allies were involved in the assassination reflected internal PRI conflicts, as Colosio had become a strong opponent of the government’s unchecked power. The PRI nominated Ernesto Zedillo, who sought to balance the interests of various party factions and ensured apparent immunity for Salinas de Gortari.