Democracy in Mexico

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

When Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, opposition leader and son of one of Mexico's most beloved presidents, hit the 1988 presidential campaign trail, it was not unusual for messages like this to be pressed into his hand: ``I am ready to take up arms whenever you say, Mr. Cardenas. My family is very poor, and we are prepared to fight for you.'' Adds LaBotz, ``The revolution never ends in the Mexican countryside.'' Despite the turgid title, Democracy in Mexico is a timely, lucid and readable look at why Mexico is in the fix it is today, shaken by assassinations, threatened by rural rebellion and whirling down the economic toilet. Author LaBotz (Edward L. Doheny: Petroleum, Power and Politics in the United States and Mexico) traces the development of the Mexican political system from the Mexican Revolution to the Chiapas Rebellion, making special effort to explain the development of the one-party system and why so many Mexicans remain mired in hopeless poverty. Where he falls short is in finding a real alternative to the entrenched Institutional Revolutionary Party: a problem Mexican voters face at every election. LaBotz throws his support behind Cardenas and his dismally disorganized and backbiting, leftish party while brushing aside the more viable and increasingly popular conservative PAN (National Action Party). His politics are all too clear, to the detriment of readers looking for a balanced assessment of the Mexican situation. Nonetheless, this important book offers excellent insights into our neighbor and trading partner's painful journey down the twisting path that one day may actually lead to democracy. (Sept.)