Breathe
By Lillian Briseño
The dream of reelection has haunted the heads of many presidents of contemporary Mexico, not to mention those of the 19th century when they not only desired it but succeeded. The desire to be reelected is, therefore, perhaps their last temptation.
Of course, the most iconic case in the history of Mexico is that of Porfirio Diaz who, in effect, remained in power from 1876 to 1911, with a brief four-year hiatus between 1880 and 1884, when his compadre Manuel Gonzalez, occupied the executive. Diaz would keep up appearances after his first period, since it was precisely Lerdo de Tejada's condemnation to reelection that would lead him to the presidency of the Republic, but soon after he would discover that his business was to govern, doing everything to stay in power.
