Carlos Salinas de Gortari

Carlos Salinas de Gortari is a Mexican politician who served as president from 1988 to 1994. His government privatized state enterprises, opened trade, and negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement.

North American Free Trade Agreement: A trade agreement among Mexico, the United States, and Canada that took effect in 1994. Salinas made negotiating this agreement the centerpiece of his trade-opening program.
Privatization in Mexico: The transfer of Mexican state-owned enterprises and assets into private ownership. Salinas oversaw major sales, including the privatization of banks and the national telephone company.
Institutional Revolutionary Party: A Mexican political party that governed the country continuously from 1929 to 2000. Salinas rose within the party and governed through its long-dominant political system.
Raúl Salinas de Gortari: A Mexican businessman and brother of Carlos Salinas who became the subject of major criminal investigations. Raúl’s arrest and prosecution after the presidency intensified scrutiny of the Salinas family.
Mexican economic liberalization: Mexico’s shift toward privatization, trade openness, and reduced state intervention in the economy. His administration accelerated this broader transformation through privatization and trade reforms.
Mexican banking privatization: The 1991–1992 transfer of Mexico’s nationalized commercial banks to private owners. The sales were among the most consequential privatizations of his administration.
Miguel de la Madrid: A Mexican politician who served as president from 1982 to 1988, immediately before Salinas. De la Madrid selected Salinas as the ruling party’s presidential candidate and preceded him in office.
José Córdoba Montoya: A French-Mexican economist and political adviser who served as chief of staff to Salinas. He was a powerful adviser and a key architect of the administration’s economic program.
Mexican peso crisis: A severe Mexican financial crisis that began in December 1994 with a sharp peso devaluation. The crisis followed his presidency and exposed vulnerabilities associated with the economic model his government advanced.
Telmex privatization: The 1990 sale of a controlling stake in Mexico’s state telephone company to private investors. The sale became a prominent example of Salinas-era privatization.

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Subcomandante MarcosRelated: The uprising Marcos announced began during Salinas’s presidency and challenged his government’s policies.