The National Democratic Front () was a coalition of

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

Mexican

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

created to compete in the 1988 presidential elections, being the immediate predecessor of the

Party of the Democratic Revolution The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD, es, Partido de la Revolución Democrática, ) is a social democratic political party in Mexico. The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 1986 from the Institut ...

(PRD). It was result of an agglutination of small political left and center-left forces with dissident members from the

Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...

(PRI). Their candidate for the presidential election was

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano (; born 1 May 1934) is a Mexican prominent politician. The son of 51st President of Mexico Lázaro Cárdenas, he is a former Head of Government of Mexico City and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revolut ...

History

Background

The National Democratic Front had its origins in the PRI, where the Democratic Current - founded in 1986 and led by

Porfirio Muñoz Ledo Porfirio Alejandro Muñoz Ledo y Lazo de la Vega (born July 23, 1933 in Mexico City) is a Mexican politician. He is one of the founders of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). He is the current Mexican Ambassador to Cuba since January ...

, César Buenrostro,

Ifigenia Martínez Ifigenia may refer to: Books and film * ''Ifigenia'' (novel), 1924 novel by Teresa de la Parra *''Ifigenia'', 1950 novel Gonzalo Torrente Ballester *, directed by Iván Feo Music * ''Ifigenia'' (Pizzetti), 1950 opera by Ildebrando Pizzetti * Ifig ...

, among others - tried to democratize the internal selection of the PRI's presidential candidate, while also protesting against the economic policies of then-president

Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic an ...

. When in October 1987

Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician who served as 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), earlier in his career he wor ...

was nominated the official PRI candidate De la Madrid, the members of the Democratic Current broke from the PRI, looking for a party to support Cárdenas' presidential candidacy. On 14 October 1987, Cárdenas was nominated by the

Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution The Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution () was a Mexican political party that existed from 1954 to 2000. For most of its existence, the PARM was generally considered a satellite party of the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PR ...

(PARM). Shortly after, the

Party of the Cardenist Front of National Reconstruction The Party of the Cardenist Front of National Reconstruction ( es, text=Partido Frente Cardenista de Reconstrucción Nacional; PFCRN) was a Mexican political party that arose during the 1989 elections, having evolved from the coffee cooperative ...

(PFCRN), the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

, the Popular Socialist Party (PPS), the Liberal Party and the Green Party (the predecessor the

Ecologist Green Party of Mexico The Ecological Green Party of Mexico ( es, Partido Verde Ecologista de México, , PVEM or PVE) is a green-conservative political party in Mexico. In the 2012 legislative elections, the party took 34 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (out of 500 ...

), all of them small political forces, endorsed him as well. These parties would only nominate Cárdenas as their candidate, but they would not contribute to the later formation of the Party of the Democratic Revolution.

Formation

Cárdenas and Muñoz Ledo made a pact in 1988 with the Mexican left in which the

Mexican Socialist Party The Socialist Mexican Party (, PMS) was a left-wing Mexican political party, and one of the immediate antecedents of the present Party of the Democratic Revolution. It was the last effort to unify the different Mexican left-wing parties, as well ...

(whose candidate was

Heberto Castillo Heberto Castillo Martínez (August 23, 1928 – April 5, 1997) was a Mexican civil engineer and political activist. Castillo was born in Ixhuatlán de Madero, Veracruz, and received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the National ...

) endorsed Cárdenas' candidacy as well. It also allied itself with many social organizations, like the

Coalition of Workers, Peasants, and Students of the Isthmus The Coalition of Workers, Peasants, and Students of the Isthmus ( es, Coalición Obrera, Campesina, Estudiantil del Istmo) (COCEI) is a Mexican socialist political organization in Juchitán, Oaxaca. Founded in 1973/1974, it supports agrarian reform ...

(COCEI) (that had gained the local elections in

Juchitán de Zaragoza Juchitán de Zaragoza (; Spanish name; Isthmus Zapotec: ''Xabizende'' ) is an indigenous town in the southeast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Juchitán District in the west of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region. With a 2005 censu ...

), the Independent Central of Agricultural Workers and Peasants (CIOAC), the Assembly of Districts of the City of Mexico (created after 1985 earthquakes), the Union of Popular Colonies and the

Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the ins ...

Revolutionary Union among others. This agglomerate of civil parties and organizations would be, along with the Democratic Current of the PRI, the base of the future PRD.

Aftermath

The official winner of the 6 July 1988 presidential election

, in what has been widely considered a fraudulent election. Cárdenas, like the rest of the opposition candidates, protested against the fraud, and he claimed victory for himself. Cárdenas and the other leaders of the FDN would held multitudinous protests against the fraud, but they were unable to prevent Salinas de Gortari from taking office. After the elections, many of the parties and social organizations that had formed the National Democratic Front decided to join forces to create a new party, the

(PRD), that would be formally founded on 5 May 1989, with

as its president.

References

{{Authority control Defunct left-wing political party alliances Defunct political party alliances in Mexico Institutional Revolutionary Party breakaway groups Modern Mexico Party of the Democratic Revolution Social democratic parties in Mexico Social democratic parties Socialist parties in Mexico

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...