Mexican Politics
Three cheers to Adolfo Aguilar Zinser (Commentary, Oct. 5) for an exceptional analysis of President Salinas’ “hasty and unaccountable process” of pushing for a bilateral free-trade agreement with the U.S. The PRI’s dictatorial perfection, as Aguilar notes, is precisely its inability to escape external scrutiny as well as its ability to ostracize dissidents and punish opponents. American sympathizers of Salinas’ pro-business reforms need to wake up to the harsh reality of an authoritarian regime. Economic liberalization in Mexico will not succeed in the long run until democratic reforms help legitimize a decaying political order.
CARLOS E. JUAREZ
Department of Political Science
UCLA
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