Ernesto Zedillo

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Zedillo and the second or maternal family name is Ponce de León.

Ernesto Zedillo
Official portrait, 1999
61st President of Mexico
In office
1 December 1994 – 30 November 2000
Preceded byCarlos Salinas de Gortari
Succeeded byVicente Fox
Secretary of Public Education
In office
7 January 1992 – 29 November 1993
PresidentCarlos Salinas de Gortari
Preceded byManuel Bartlett
Succeeded byFernando Solana
Secretary of Programming and Budget
In office
1 December 1988 – 31 December 1991
PresidentCarlos Salinas de Gortari
Preceded byPedro Aspe
Succeeded byRogelio Gasca
Personal details
Born
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León

(1951-12-27) 27 December 1951 (age 72)
Mexico City, Mexico
Political partyInstitutional Revolutionary Party
Spouse
Nilda Patricia Velasco
​
​
(m. 1974)​
Children5
Parent(s)Rodolfo Zedillo Castillo
Martha Alicia Ponce de León
Residence(s)Mexico City
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
EducationNational Polytechnic Institute (BA)
Yale University (MA, PhD)
Signature

Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (Spanish pronunciation: [eɾˈnesto seˈðiʝo]; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was the 61st president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

During his presidency, he faced one of the worst economic crises in Mexico's history, which started only weeks after taking office.[1][2] While he distanced himself from his predecessor Carlos Salinas de Gortari, blaming his administration for the crisis,[1][3] and overseeing the arrest of Salinas' brother Raúl Salinas de Gortari,[4] he continued the neoliberal policies of his two predecessors. His administration was also marked by renewed clashes with the EZLN and the Popular Revolutionary Army;[5] the controversial implementation of Fobaproa to rescue the national banking system;[6] a political reform that allowed residents of the Federal District (Mexico City) to elect their own mayor; the privatization of national railways and its subsequent suspension of the passenger rail service; and the Aguas Blancas and Acteal massacres perpetrated by State forces.[7][8]

Although Zedillo's policies eventually led to a relative economic recovery, popular discontent with seven decades of PRI rule led to the party losing, for the first time, its legislative majority in the 1997 midterm elections,[9] and in the 2000 general election the right-wing opposition National Action Party's candidate Vicente Fox won the Presidency of the Republic, putting an end to 71 years of uninterrupted PRI rule.[10] Zedillo's admission of the PRI's defeat and his peaceful handing of power to his successor improved his image in the final months of his administration, and he left office with an approval rating of 60%.[11]

Since the end of his term as president, Zedillo has been a leading voice on globalization, especially its impact on relations between developed and developing nations. He is currently the director of the Center for the Study of Globalization at Yale University and is on the board of directors at the Inter-American Dialogue and Citigroup.

  1. ^ a b "The peso crisis, ten years on: Tequila slammer". The Economist. 29 December 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  2. ^ "The Tequila crisis in 1994". Rabobank. 19 September 2013. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Salinas vs. Zedillo" (in Spanish). La Jornada. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  4. ^ Golden, Tim (1 March 1995). "Salinas's Brother Charged In Mexican Assassination". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  5. ^ Maité Rico (28 February 1999). "Entrevista con Salvador Morales Garibay". Letras Libres. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  6. ^ Solís, L. (comp.) (1999). Fobaproa y las recientes reformas financieras. México: Instituto de Investigación Económica y Social "Lucas Alamán", A.C.
  7. ^ "Resuelve SCJN Atraer Caso de Acteal". Archive.is. 3 September 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  8. ^ "La matanza de Aguas Blancas". Archived from the original on 30 November 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  9. ^ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p453 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  10. ^ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p475 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  11. ^ Aznarez, Juan Jesus (1 December 2000). "Zedillo abandona la presidencia con una popularidad del 60%". El Pais. Retrieved 9 August 2019.