The 2000 Mexican presidential election marked the end of nearly seventy years of control by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). This July, Mexicans will head to the polls again. The presidential race is hotly contended by three major parties with markedly different platforms. Currently leading in the polls is Andrés Manuel López Obrador—the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party candidate, known as the “Mexican Chávez”—who has earned his political notoriety as the mayor of Mexico City. Although Obrador denies any ties to Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, his criticisms of U.S.-Mexico relations and his populist proposals bear Chávez’s anti-American tone. Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party has built his campaign around the unfinished legacy of current president Vicente Fox. PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo hopes his party can regain power by modernizing itself. Madrazo has taken to using only his first name in headlines of campaign materials to distance himself from his tainted last name and previous incarnations of the PRI.

AEI visiting fellow Roger F. Noriega will lead two panels to discuss what the Mexican presidential elections will mean to relations with the United States. The first panel will briefly describe the candidates, their latest polling numbers, and the potential outcomes of the election. The second panel will look at the election's larger implications for Mexico and the rest of the world.