Fox Breaks 70-Year Rule: Mexico Votes for Democracy

Vicente Fox Quesada was elected President of Mexico on July 2, 2000, becoming the first president from an opposition party after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional. Born on July 2, 1942, in Mexico City, and raised on the family ranch in Guanajuato, he was educated by Jesuits and earned a degree in business administration from the Universidad Iberoamericana. He joined the Coca-Cola Company in 1964 and rose to become president of Coca-Cola Mexico by 1975, one of the youngest executives to hold that position. He entered politics through the center-right Partido Acción Nacional, serving as a federal congressman and then governor of Guanajuato before launching his presidential campaign. His campaign was built on a single, electrifying message: change. His slogan, "Ya!" meaning "Now!" or "Enough!", captured the frustration of a generation that had grown up under one-party rule. The PRI had governed Mexico since 1929, winning every presidential election through a combination of genuine popular support, patronage networks, media control, and electoral manipulation. Fox's victory with 42.5 percent of the vote was the cleanest transfer of power in modern Mexican history. The international press covered the election as a democratic milestone for Latin America. His presidency, from 2000 to 2006, was marked by economic stability, closer relations with the United States, and significant advances in government transparency and press freedom. However, he failed to deliver the transformative reforms his campaign had promised, particularly in education, energy, and taxation. He left office with mixed reviews: celebrated for ending one-party rule but criticized for squandering the mandate that victory had provided.