Mexico Vocab

Vocab for Mexico and it's government structure, politician, etc for AP Comp gov

Vicente Fox

a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 55th President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. As a member of the National Action Party (PAN), his election was historically significant, ending 71 years of uninterrupted rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Lazaro Cardenas

transformative Mexican president (1934–1940) known for land reform, nationalizing the oil industry (creating Pemex), and supporting workers' rights.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO)

a Mexican left-wing politician who served as President of Mexico from December 1, 2018, to October 1, 2024. He founded the Morena party, championing a "Fourth Transformation" (4T) to reduce poverty and end corruption.

Enrique Pena Nieto

a Mexican former politician and lawyer who served as the 64th president of Mexico from 2012 to 2018.

Porfirio Diaz

a Mexican soldier and politician who served as President of Mexico for 35 years (1876–1911), a period known as the Porfiriato. He modernized Mexico through industrialization, infrastructure development (railroads, telegraphs), and foreign investment, but maintained power through authoritarian rule, voter fraud, and violent repression of dissent, triggering the Mexican Revolution.

Claudia Shienbaum

a Mexican scientist and politician serving as the President of Mexico since October 1, 2024, representing the Morena party. She is the first female and first Jewish president in Mexico's history, running as a close ally of former president AMLO to continue his social policies and "humanist" economic agenda

Subcomandante Marcos

the former masked spokesperson and military leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas, Mexico.

Ernesto Zedillo

was the President of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). As a Yale-educated economist, he is best known for managing the 1994 "Tequila Crisis," driving neoliberal economic reforms, privatizing state railways, and fostering democratic reforms that ended 71 years of PRI dominance

PRI (party)

a Mexican political party founded in 1929 that dominated the country's political institutions for most of the 20th century. It held uninterrupted presidential power until 2000, utilizing a "catch-all" ideology to adapt over time while maintaining power through corporatism

PAN (party)

center-right, conservative party in Mexico founded in 1939 to oppose the PRI's socialist-leaning policies. It advocates free enterprise, socially conservative values associated with the Catholic Church, and democratic, transparent governance.

PRD (party)

a left-wing political party in Mexico founded in 1989 by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas following a split in the PRI. It historically championing social justice, center-left economics, and progressive social issues

MORENA (party)

a left-wing populist political party in Mexico founded in 2014 by Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). It focuses on anti-corruption, economic nationalism, and welfare expansion

EZLN (Zapatistas)

a leftist, predominantly indigenous Mexican militant group based in Chiapas, which emerged in 1994 to fight for rights, autonomy, and against neoliberalism, specifically NAFTA.

Federal Election Institute

an autonomous, public organization, with an independent character regarding its decisions and functioning. It is in charge of organizing federal elections, that is, the election of President of the United Mexican States and Lower and Upper Chamber members that constitute the Union Congress.

Jalisico New Generation Cartel

a highly violent Mexican criminal syndicate and paramilitary organization based in Jalisco. Founded by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Mencho"), it is known for narco-terrorism, international drug trafficking, and extreme violence, often using military-grade weapons and drones against rivals.

sexenio

the popular term for the six-year, single-term limit on the presidency and state governorships in Mexico

El Dedazo (look up “finger tap” related to presidents)

a Mexican political term referring to the practice where an incumbent president unilaterally handpicks their successor or designates key government officials, bypassing democratic or transparent selection processes.

latifundistas

are owners of vast landed estates, known as latifundios or haciendas

The Porfiriato

a 35-year dictatorial period in Mexico led by Porfirio Díaz, characterized by rapid modernization, heavy foreign investment, and economic growth alongside severe political repression, inequality, and the suppression of civil liberties.

Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI)

a mid-20th-century economic strategy (roughly 1940s–1970s) aimed at replacing foreign manufactured imports with domestic production, fostering industrial growth, and reducing dependency on foreign goods

Maquiadoras

foreign-owned manufacturing plants, often located near the U.S. border, that import raw materials or components duty-free to assemble, process, or manufacture goods for export

Mexican Miracle

a period of rapid, sustained economic growth in Mexico from the 1940s to the early 1970s, featuring industrialization, 6% annual GDP growth, and low inflation.

Caudillo

Spanish/Latin American military-landowner dictator or charismatic strongman who wields power, often outside legal frameworks, through personal loyalty and military strength.

Bracero Program

a series of diplomatic agreements between the U.S. and Mexico that allowed millions of Mexican men to work legally in the U.S. as temporary contract laborers, primarily in agriculture and on railroads

Parastatal

refers to a legal entity, company, or organization that is owned or controlled, either wholly or partially, by the federal government.

PEMEX

Mexico's state-owned oil and gas company founded in 1938.

Informal Sector

economic activities, enterprises, and jobs that are not regulated, taxed, or protected by the state.

Ejidos

a system of communal land tenure where rural communities, or ejidatarios, hold rights to cultivate or use land collectively, rather than through individual private ownership

NAFTA

a 1994 pact between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada that eliminated most tariffs and trade barriers to encourage economic integration

camarillas

an informal, tightly-knit network of politicians, advisors, and loyalists who support a leader's career, functioning as a "political clique" or "patron-client" system

Tlatelolco massacre

La Masacre de Tlatelolco) was a violent suppression of protesters by the Mexican Armed Forces on October 2, 1968, in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Mexico City. Occurring ten days before the 1968 Summer Olympics, the attack, known as Operation Galeana, resulted in an estimated 350-500 deaths and hundreds injured.

hacienda

a large, historically significant estate, plantation, or ranch, often featuring a main house, worker villages, and a chapel, functioning as a self-sufficient community

Constitution of 1917

the fundamental law currently governing Mexico, approved on February 5, 1917, in Querétaro as the legal culmination of the Mexican Revolution.

State corporatism

a historical political system (dominant for most of the 20th century) where the government-controlled, authorized, and incorporated major social and economic groups—such as labor unions, peasant organizations, and professional associations—into the state structure to maintain political stability, ensure loyalty, and manage economic development.