Zedillo Casts His Net Wide--and Keeps the Opposition Off Balance

By boldly acting to reform Mexican politics in his first two weeks in office, President Ernesto Zedillo is raising hopes in a nation accustomed to cynicism and is confounding an opposition primed for confrontation.

For starters, his nomination of Antonio Lozano of the National Action Party (PAN) to be attorney general shocked stalwarts in the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Lozano will take charge of the corruption-tainted federal police, the war on drugs and the investigations into the assassinations of two prominent PRI politicians. The appointment sends a message that impunity in high places will no longer be tolerated.

This message carries a high political cost. Some of the more corrupt segments of the PRI, which supported Zedillo’s candidacy, are feeling betrayed. Like former President Carlos Salinas de Gortrari, who courted the support of the more business-oriented PAN to neutralize PRI opponents of his economic reforms, Zedillo is inviting the collaboration of his foes to offset the loss of conservative support within his own party. The difference is that Zedillo is taking on the far greater challenge of political reform and--not coincidentally--casting his net far wider to include the left-of-center Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). So far, at least, the changes have been dramatic.

Six years ago, Salinas chose Enrique Alvarez del Castillo as his attorney general, who while governor of Jalisco was linked to the murder of U.S. drug-enforcement agent Enrique Camarena. The appointment reassured political elites that they need not fear prosecution for corruption. For secretary of government, the second most powerful post after the presidency, Salinas chose Fernando Gutierrez Barrios, best known for his role in the 1968 massacre of several hundred student protesters in Mexico City. That was a clear warning to the opposition not to protest too vigorously. When Gutierrez turned out to be more the conciliator, Salinas replaced him with Patrocinio Gonzalez Garrido, the governor of Chiapas who had gained notoriety by filling the jails with dissident Mayans, teachers and priests.

By contrast, there are no hard-liners among Zedillo’s key appointments. Salinas turned to the army and police to deal with PRD protests; Zedillo invites PRD legislators to lunch.

In Chiapas, the spirit of collaboration has led to an unusual political appointment. Eduardo Robledo, the newly inaugurated governor whose election is disputed by the opposition, has chosen Eraclio Zepeda of the PRD to be his secretary of government. Zepeda, a longtime veteran of the Mexican left, has ties to the civilian wing of the Zapatista insurgency. Robledo could not have made such an appointment without the approval, perhaps encouragement, of Zedillo.

All this courtship is causing confusion and division within the PRD, which is more accustomed to repression. Part of its leadership, including a party founder, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, continues to see the PRI-dominated government as the agent of political murder and fixed elections. Thus, any overture from Mexico City must be resisted as a cynical attempt at manipulation.

But another segment of the PRD leadership sees an opportunity for a political breakthrough. While still wary, it is eager to test the new government’s intentions. Spearheading this group is the party president, Porfirio Munoz Ledo, a brilliant political strategist with one of Mexico’s most striking resumes. While a member of the PRI, Munoz Ledo served as secretary of labor, secretary of education, ambassador to the United Nations and president of the PRI. He quit the PRI in 1987, after an ill-fated attempt to democratize the party from within. A year later, he was elected the first opposition senator in Mexican history and, in 1989, joined Cardenas in founding the PRD. As Cardenas’ political star fades, the outcome of waning public support and personal inflexibility, Munoz Ledo is emerging as a major player on the Mexican political stage. Although he has not endorsed Zepeda’s decision to take the No. 2 job in Chiapas, neither has he condemned it.

Zedillo’s initiatives also threaten to soften public sympathy for Subcomandante Marcos and his Zapatista rebels. The rebels’ central demand has been democracy and political reform. With no one seriously doubting that Zedillo won the election, they can no longer question the legitimacy of the federal government. Nor--with Zedillo proposing an overhaul of the police and the judiciary and the replacement of all members of the supreme court--can they argue that the president is not serious about reform.

That leaves two outstanding issues. One is land reform, which may be addressed through the appointment of Arturo Warman, another old leftist, to replace PRI stalwart and millionaire businessman Carlos Hank as secretary of agriculture. The other is electoral reform in Chiapas.

Although some in Chiapas insist that the issues are for the state to resolve, they are inevitably a national concern. Clean elections at all levels of government are essential to the proper functioning of a federal system. Otherwise, the security of the entire federation is imperiled, as Chiapas is demonstrating. To ease tensions, and send an unmistakable message to other states and municipalities, Zedillo will need to ensure the replacement of Chiapas’ discredited electoral system with a scrupulously fair one designed in collaboration with the president’s new PRD luncheon guests.