Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Mexico City democratization Brugada, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico City): Mexico City Head of Government Clara Brugada backed President Claudia Sheinbaum’s proposal that the remains of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano be placed in the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons. During a press conference, she recognized his role in the country’s democratic opening.
Brugada described engineer Cárdenas as a fundamental figure in the democratic transformation of Mexico and the capital, particularly for his participation in the 1988 political movement and his contribution to expanding citizens’ political rights. She said her administration is prepared to act on the decision of the committee responsible for determining whether the remains will be moved to the Rotunda.
Brugada said that if the presidential proposal is approved, the city government will carry out the necessary logistical arrangements. She recalled that one of the most significant moments of Cárdenas’s career was his role in the 1988 democratic movement, when he broke with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and led a mobilization that questioned that year’s electoral results and demanded respect for the popular will.
According to Brugada, that movement helped drive political reforms that changed the relationship between citizens and institutions, particularly in Mexico City, where for decades residents could not directly elect the head of the local government. She highlighted the 1997 election, when Cárdenas became the first head of government of the then Federal District chosen by citizen vote.
The Electoral Institute of Mexico City (IECM) confirms that this process resulted from the political reforms that allowed residents to directly elect their authorities.
Brugada considered that election a turning point for the capital’s political life, because citizens gained a power that had previously belonged to the federal sphere: deciding who would lead the local administration. She also referred to the principle of effective suffrage and the continuing relevance of the ideals of the Mexican Revolution.
She rejected the idea that great historical processes can be considered complete. The Mexican Revolution, she explained, established the foundations of a new constitutional order with the promulgation of the Constitution of 1917, but social and political goals remain pending.
Regarding the so-called Fourth Transformation, promoted by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and continued by President Claudia Sheinbaum, Brugada described it as a new stage of change that, in her view, must be deepened.
“They are processes of continuous and permanent transformation; we cannot say they are concluded,” she said.
Brugada maintained that inequality and injustice remain factors that require sustained transformation efforts. She stressed that institutional changes must translate into better living conditions, greater rights and opportunities for the population.
Finally, she reiterated that Cárdenas’s legacy is tied to the conquest of democratic rights and to citizens’ ability to participate directly in political decisions. His possible inclusion in the Rotunda of Illustrious Persons will depend on the determination of the responsible committee, while the city government said it is willing to facilitate the procedure.
Sources: Mexico City Government and the Electoral Institute of Mexico City (IECM).
