{"id":5726,"date":"2026-11-05T05:27:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T05:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/?p=5726"},"modified":"2026-11-05T06:01:55","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T06:01:55","slug":"cuauhtemoc-cardenas-1934-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/05\/cuauhtemoc-cardenas-1934-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, 1934-2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cuauhtemoc Cardenas recently passed away at the age of 92. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardenas was a famous Mexican politician, a leftist leader involved in the transition of Mexico from a one-party state to an effective multiparty political system. Cardenas ran for president three times, was the son of a former president, and the father of a current official in the Sheinbaum administration. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Cuauhtemoc Cardenas in 1999 at a forum in Argentina.
Source: Argentine Ministry of Culture<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Cuauhtemoc was born May 1st, 1934, the son of Lazaro Cardenas. Seven months later, Lazaro became the president of Mexico, his six-year term lasted until November 30th, 1940.
<\/p>\n\n\n

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Lazaro Cardenas
Source: Aurelio Escobar Castellanos Archive<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Lazaro Cardenas is one of the most famous presidents of the 20th century, famous especially for breaking up the haciendas and expropriating foreign oil companies to nationalize petroleum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cuauhtemoc Cardenas studied civil engineering at Mexico City’s UNAM, graduating in 1957. For the rest of his life he was called “El Ingeniero<\/em>\u201d, the Engineer.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cuauhtemoc was a member of the PRI, the party which ran Mexico for most of the 20th century. He served as a senator in the Mexican Congress and also as governor of the state of Michoacan, where his father had been born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 1987 to 1989, Cardenas was a member of PARM (Partido Aut\u00e9ntico de la Revoluci\u00f3n Mexicana<\/em>, “Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution”). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1988 election, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas was a candidate for president, opposing PRI candidate Carlos Salinas. Opposing Salinas because he believed he was too right-wing, Cardenas ran under the banner of the National Democratic Front (Frente Democr\u00e1tico Nacional<\/em>) a coalition of small leftist parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Election day was July 6th, 1988. Here’s how Wikipedia <\/a>describes what occurred that night: “On election day, 6 July 1988, C\u00e1rdenas was leading in the vote count when the government’s IBM AS\/400<\/a> computer system allegedly shut down. Manuel Bartlett<\/a>, Secretary of the Interior<\/a> and head of the Federal Electoral Commission<\/a>\u00a0[es<\/a>] (CFE), which was responsible for counting the votes, described the incident as a “crash” (se cay\u00f3 el sistema<\/em>). When the system was restored, Salinas was declared the official winner…It was the first time in the PRI’s 59-year history that its hold on the presidency had been in doubt, making Mexicans aware that the party could lose an election.[20]<\/a><\/sup> Although C\u00e1rdenas could have incited a revolt, he refused to do so and preferred to let the outcome be decided at the polls.” <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1989, Cardenas’ Frente Democr\u00e1tico Nacional<\/em> became a political party, the PRD (Partido de la Revoluci\u00f3n Democr\u00e1tica<\/em>) and Cardenas was the party’s first leader.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rally in Zocalo in which Formation of the PRD is announced, 1989.
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas in the center.
Source: Luis Humberto Gonzalez, La Jornada<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1994, Cardenas ran for president as the standard-bearer of the PRD. This time he came in third place, after the PRI and the PAN. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until 1997, the city of Mexico City was governed by a regent appointed by the president. In that year it was granted more autonomy and a new post, jefe de gobierno<\/em>, was established. Cardenas ran for and won that post, serving from 1997 to 1999.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cardenas wins the mayoral post of Mexico City in 1997, with wife Celeste.
Source: Jose Antonio Lopez, La Jornada<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2000, Cardenas ran for president the third time, finishing in third place again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas left the PRD and formed a group known as Por M\u00e9xico Hoy<\/em> (For Mexico Today), working to change the Mexican constitution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), a former member of the PRD, won the presidency as standardbearer of his own MORENA party. AMLO was followed as president by Claudia Sheinbaum in 2024. Cardenas criticized MORENA for being “insufficiently leftist” and for failing to improve education, healthcare and reducing inequality.

Nevertheless, Lazaro Cardenas Batel, son of Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, serves in the Sheinbaum administration as President Sheinbaum’s Chief of Staff. [See Sheinbaum\u2019s Choice for Chief of Staff a Blast From the Past<\/a>].
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then-President-Elect Sheinbaum with Lazaro Cardenas Batel.
Source: Claudia Sheinbaum Website<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cuauhtemoc Cardenas died on October 28th, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Cuauhtemoc Cardenas in 2022.
Source: EneasMX<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In 2024, Cardenas’ old party, the once-powerful PRD, lost its national registration. See
Sunset of the \u2018Sol Azteca\u2019 \u2013 The Once-Powerful PRD Party Loses Its National Registry<\/a> The MORENA party had won over many of its adherents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three generations of the Cardenas family served as Governor of the state of Michoacan:
1. L\u00e1zaro C\u00e1rdenas del R\u00edo<\/strong>\u00a0 1928-1932 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Cuauht\u00e9moc C\u00e1rdenas Sol\u00f3rzano<\/strong> 1980-1986<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. L\u00e1zaro C\u00e1rdenas Batel<\/strong>\u00a0 2002-2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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State of Michoacan. Source: TUBS <\/a>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

President Sheinbaum tweeted this<\/a> on the day of Cardenas’ death: “With deep sorrow, we lament the passing of Engineer Cuauht\u00e9moc C\u00e1rdenas Sol\u00f3rzano, a man of steadfast principles who transformed the political life of our country…We send our most sincere condolences to L\u00e1zaro, Cuauht\u00e9moc, and Camila, to his entire family, friends, and loved ones. Cuauht\u00e9moc C\u00e1rdenas Sol\u00f3rzano lives forever in the history of Mexico.”<\/strong> [Twitter X translation]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Cuauhtemoc Cardenas recently passed away at the age of 92. Cardenas was a famous Mexican politician, a leftist leader involved in the transition of Mexico from a one-party state to an effective multiparty political system. Cardenas ran for president three … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,10],"tags":[1150,1151,27,129,128,1152,5,1147,47],"class_list":["post-5726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-politics","tag-camila-cardenas-batel","tag-celeste-batel-de-cardenas","tag-claudia-sheinbaum","tag-cuauhtemoc-cardenas","tag-lazaro-cardenas-batel","tag-lazaro-cardenas-del-rio","tag-mexico-city","tag-michoacan-state","tag-zocalo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5726"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5762,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5726\/revisions\/5762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mexiconewsreport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}