Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)

In democratic countries, political formations alternate in power. The most common form of alternation is bipartisanship, although in recent years large alliances of different political parties have been created as a formula for reaching power. In the case of Mexico, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has been the hegemonic formation throughout the 20th century.

The PRI ruled the nation continuously from 1929 to 1989. In 1997 he lost the absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies and between 2000 and 2012 the presidency of Mexico was in the hands of the PAN leaders.

In the presidential elections of July 2018, the PRI obtained 16% of the votes and the party was the third most voted.

From the ideological point of view, it is based on a general principle: the combination of capitalist economic growth with social justice. Likewise, the state maintains its secular vocation. The PRI is integrated into the International Socialist, like the PSOE in Spain, the Union Civic Radical in Argentina.

Origins, evolution and ideology

The party was founded in 1929 and by then it was known by another name, the National Revolutionary Party (PNR). With these initials it remained until 1938, when there was a new name change, Partido de la Revolution Mexican (PRM). In 1946 the stage began with the current name.

The formation of the PRI is the historical consequence of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Hundreds of political groups and local leaders who had played a leading role in the revolution decided to unite in a new formation politics. In this sense, the PRI brought together the different revolutionary currents, including the organizations union.

In the first governments of this formation, great transformations were promoted: the creation of a Bank national, expansion of the network of transport, scientific and technological development, national campaigns to combat illiteracy, the expansion of rural schools or the distribution of land within the framework of an agrarian reform. In 1938 President Lázaro Cárdenas nationalized the oil extraction sector and in 1939 he decided to give political asylum to Spanish Republican exiles.

Among the PRI's achievements, two stand out: the establishment of peace in a traditionally troubled country and the modernization of institutions. From an economic perspective, between 1940 and 1970 there was a period of constant growth and this stage was known as "the Mexican miracle."

In broad sectors of Mexican society the leadership of the tricolor party is considered corrupt

For many Mexican analysts the style of government of the PRI has been based on corruption. From the ranks of the PRI they try to defend themselves against this accusation by affirming that corruption is a phenomenon that is related to the whole of society. In order to clean its image, its leaders launch messages of regeneration, but these are again stained by new murky episodes.