Fox Breaks 70-Year Rule: Mexico Votes for Democracy
The ballot boxes closed at 6 PM on July 2, 2000, and by 11 PM, Francisco Labastida knew. Gone. The Partido Revolucionario Institucional had controlled México's presidency since 1929—71 years, 12 presidents, zero defeats. Vicente Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive in cowboy boots, won with 42.5% of the vote. He'd run on a single promise: "Ya!" Just that. Now. And 42 million voters agreed that seven decades of one-party rule, however stable, however predictable, was long enough to call a dictatorship by its softer name: tradition.
July 2, 2000
26 years ago
What Else Happened on July 2
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