Page One

The Institute of Governmental Studies and the Goldman School of Public Policy will present a special lecture Friday on the upcoming Mexican presidential elections. 

“The Mexican Presidential Elections: An Inside Look at the Labastida Campaign,” will be held at noon Friday in the Institute for Governmental Studies library, in Moses Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. 

On July 2, Mexico will hold its most highly contested presidential elections in modern history. For the first time in 70 years, the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) faces a serious challenge from the leading opposition parties. While the Zedillo administration boasts of macroeconomic and financial achievements, critics say that now is the time for Mexico to consolidate its democratic institutions through the election of an opposition party. 

Only two weeks before Election Day, Esteban Moctezuma will present an insider’s perspective on the Mexican presidential campaign to the UC Berkeley campus. Moctezuma serves as the PRI’s Secretary General and as the campaign manager for their Presidential Candidate, Francisco Labastida. Moctezuma will explain how the PRI has handled this intense presidential campaign. 

Following his undergraduate studies in economics at the UNAM in Mexico City, Moctezuma received a master’s in political economics from Cambridge. Moctezuma then went on to hold several high level positions with the Mexican government. 

During the 1994 presidential elections, Moctezuma served as campaign manager for Ernesto Zedillo. Soon thereafter he was appointed as the Secretary of the Internal Political Affairs. In 1995 he became the President’s special advisor on New Federalism. In 1997 he was elected Senator for Mexico City, and a year later he was appointed by President Zedillo to be Mexico’s Secretary of Social Development. 

A light lunch will be served; call 643-5170 to make reservations.