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Mexico
Flag of the United Mexican States
Common Names: Mexico
Official Name: United Mexican States, Mexican Salvation Government (United States Invasion)
Starting Leader: José López Portillo
Ruling Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party
Starting Faction: None
President (1980-1982)
José López Portillo
Full Name: José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- 0% Approval Rating: No one really likes Portillo by 1980. PRI's left hates him for his authoritarianism and fondness for pro-free market economists, while PRI's right hates him for not doing enough and failing to make his reforms stick. Even the PRI centre, which Portillo nominally leads, has generally low opinion of the man, seeing him as an unreliable corrupt puppet.
- Corrupt Politician: Portillo's administration continues to be plagued by corruption scandals, and while the man himself never got implicated, he's viewed as responsible for his ministers and their shortcomings.
- Evil Reactionary: Portillo refuses to reform the system in any meaningful way, although it's debatable how much say he has in the matter.
- Macho Latino: Portillo supports an image of himself as the manliest of all men, regularly having the party propaganda show videos of him swimming, boxing etc.
- Nepotism: Portillo is known to hand out even the highest posts to his family and friends.
- Puppet King: Ever since the 1978 crisis and subsequent purge of his government, Portillo has been a glorified puppet of former president Echeverría.
- The Starscream: Attempted to solve the 1978 crisis on his own via introducing free market reforms, stepping over the entire PRI planning apparatus. Needless to say, it went extremely poorly, nearly costing PRI its dominance after nearly 50 years in power, and he had to be bailed out by his friend, former president Luis Echeverría. Seeming Portillo as unreliable, Echeverría then "clipped his wings" by taking over the PRI in all but name.
Presidents (1982-1988)
Cuahtémoc Cárdenas
Full Name: Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) - Revolucionaria
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Capitalism Is Bad: Cárdenas is a firm believer in this, believing capitalism will keep Mexico subordinate to the US and is inherently antagonistic to democracy.
- Chummy Commies: Cárdenas is a democratic socialist who supports establishing greater liberties and expanding social security, along with weakening the oligarchs by establishing cooperatives and furthering land reform.
- Good Old Ways: In a twisted sense, Cárdenas is more traditionalist than the centrist Paniagua, as technically, he calls for the ideals of the Mexican Revolution to return rather than to develop a new system, like de la Madrid does. His reforms are generally continuation of the reforms of his father, which PRI slowed down or halted in the 4 decades since his father's presidency.
- Internal Reformist: Cárdenas promises to reform PRI by establishing democratic primaries and rooting out the extremely prevalent corruption.
- Like Father, Like Son: Cárdenas jr. takes greatly after his father, the legendary revolutionary general Cárdenas sr., both visually and personality-wise. Additionally, Cárdenas jr. promises to restore revolutionary ideals established by his radical father.
- Token Good Teammate: Among the highest echelons of PRI, Cárdenas is the only one genuinely supportive of democratisation without some ulterior motive. It's telling he would have never climbed so high if he weren't a son of the most popular president PRI ever had (and possibly the most popular president of Mexico ever).
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: It's possible for Cárdenas to force out the free market Technocrats from PRI and then lose the power struggle to the Nationalists, handing PRI over to Echeverría and his puppets.
Javier García Paniagua
Full Name: Javier García Paniagua
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) - Nacionalista
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Corrupt Politician: As he has to navigate the Mexican political system, Paniagua has to engage in corruption to get things done and have people support him.
- Good Old Ways: Paniagua is the 1982 candidate most concerned with maintaining the status quo. That said, however, he has his own plans for progress, even if these are in line with the ideals of the Institutional Revolution.
- Internal Reformist: To a markedly smaller extent than the other candidates, but Paniagua is also willing to reform the system to maintain prosperous Mexico and keep PRI in power. As a result, in order to have a successful presidency and cement his power, Paniagua has to align with either the de la Madrid's Technocrats or the Cárdenas' Revolutionaries without becoming too dependent on them, in order to displace Echeverría's loyalists from the Centrist faction and become the undisputed leader of PRI.
- A Lighter Shade of Grey: While Paniagua performs many questionable actions and works towards perpetuating authoritarian PRI rule, his endgame is to isolate Echeverría and save Mexico from his plans on total surveillance.
- Master Computer: Paniagua hopes to finish economic reform by implementing a limited automated economy, allowing the state to plan at large while keeping smaller businesses operational. This is what causes him to fall out with Echeverría, who wants the state to automate completely, allowing the state (and, by extension, PRI) to maintain total oversight over the people and subordinate every aspect of government possible to technology.
- Meet the New Boss: Paniagua represents the Nacionalista faction, the centrist faction that represents the majority of PRI.
- Team Switzerland: Following the traditional PRI line, Paniagua supports strict neutrality.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Paniagua's allies vary greatly, united in their opposition to Echeverría and both far-left and far-right extremism - which doesn't mean that suddenly labour union leaders will get along with richest businessmen or Catholic conservatives with progressives.
Miguel de la Madrid
Full Name: Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) - Tecnocratista
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Boring, but Practical: While Cárdenas has to have his Democratic Current faction take over PRI and Paniagua engages with a long and difficult fight to remove Echeverría's influence in the party, de la Madrid simply destroys Echeverría's continued influence by abandoning state planning in favour of free market, making Echeverría's influence in state institutions suddenly much more insignificant and breaking away his hold over state-owned companies via privatization.
- This extends to his rule - if de la Madrid succeeds in his goals and transforms Mexico into a functional free-market country, there will be nothing remarkable about the implemented system, as it will mostly copy the systems of Western Europe and the US. It will also mean rapid economic growth and rise in human development.
- Subverted, at least the practical part, if de la Madrid fails, as the very same boring and unremarkable reforms suddenly ensure a tiny fraction of the population gets to control vast majority of the economy, turning the government into a mouthpiece for the oligarchs.
- Emperor Scientist: De la Madrid is a competent economist and is quite open about his desire to turn Mexico into an apolitical technocracy. Ideology has no place in his government, qualification for the job is the only thing that matters.
- Full-Circle Revolution: Due to the extent of corruption in Mexico, it is perfectly possible for de la Madrid's free market reforms to simply replace the ruling bureaucratic class with an economic oligarchic class, often even composed of the very same people. At best, that would mean nothing would change, but more commonly, this will lead to a rapid drop in human and economic development for most of Mexico.
- He Who Fights Monsters: If he manages to liberalise the economy without liberalising the political system, de la Madrid will be ultimately as authoritarian as PRI presidents before him, even as he publicly proclaims support to democratisation. Downplayed, however, as de la Madrid was always concerned with economics first, politics second.
- Internal Reformist: De la Madrid is the candidate capable of most changing Mexico, although not necessarily for the better. While Paniagua wants to maintain the course and Cárdenas hopes to restore the old ideals of the Mexican Revolution, de la Madrid wants to completely overhaul the economical and societal order in Mexico by pursuing radical free-market reforms.
- Puppet King: It's very easy for de la Madrid to fail in his goals and turn himself into a puppet for a new class of economic oligarchs.
Secret President (1985-1988)
Full Name: Mario Moya Palencia
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) - Nacionalista
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Meet the New Boss: Moya's rule is basically Echeverría's, and he has zero chance at changing that. His only purpose is to purge politicians disloyal to Echeverría and prepare Mexico for an Echeverría candidate in 1988.
- Puppet King: Moya is only put into power as a result of Cárdenas losing the power struggle with Echeverría, with Echeverría unable to actually take the office of president due to term limits. He has no backing of his own and only does what Echeverría wants him to.
Presidents (1988-1994)
Ifigenia Martínez y Hernández
Full Name: Ifigenia Martha Martínez y Hernández
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) - Revolucionaria
- Chummy Commies: Martínez y Hernández is a radical socialist that supports greater democratisation and more rights for the workers and indigenous people alike.
- Defector from Decadence: If PRI turns to neoliberalism under de la Madrid or remains authoritarian under Paniagua, Martínez y Hernández leaves it, following Cárdenas as in real life.
- Number Two: She is this to Cárdenas, supporting his policies and backing his administration.
- The Smurfette Principle: The only known female PRI candidate.
Ignacio Ovalle Fernández
Full Name: Ignacio Ovalle Fernández
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
- Choosing Neutrality: Ovalle follows tbe Echeverrista policy of distancing from superpowers to safeguard Mexican independence, and he even tries to create a bloc of like-minded nations... that will be instead lead by Mexico in their "neutrality".
- The Empire: Ovalle is probably the PRI president most concerned with international politics, as he tries to make Mexico a leader of a bloc of countries that are neither pro-US nor pro-USSR.
Porfirio Muñoz Ledo
Full Name: Porfirio Alejandro Muñoz Ledo y Lazo de la Vega
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
- Internal Reformist: Muñoz approves of further minor reforms in style of Paniagua, in order to keep Mexico prosperous and, above all, to keep PRI at the top.
- Meet the New Boss: Muñoz' rule is the continuation of orthodox PRI dominance, although he is willing to grant minor concessions to keep Mexico stable and prosperous, as prosperity is the thing that legitimises PRI dictatorship to the people.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Muñoz' rule doesn't really differ from Paniagua's in any meaningful way.
Alejandro Gertz Manero
Full Name: Alejandro Gertz Manero
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
- Historical Badass Upgrade: Unlike in real life, Gertz climbed to the top of the DFS, making him one of the foremost police officials in Mexico, already by 1980 - and he can even top this by becoming a President in 1994! This is in stark contrast to real life, where it wouldn't be until the 20th century that he reached higher positions in Mexico's security apparatus, only becoming the Attorney General in 2019.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: While real life Gertz did (and does) have moment of controversial repression and misuse of the police for his own benefit, he was never in a position to turn Mexico into a Police State like in EGD.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Yes, Gertz might be the most repressive of the presidents, but his rule is the only chance Mexico has to avoid its real life fate after the failed neoliberal reforms. Gertz might turn the police into a second military, but it could be the only way to avoid Mexico descending into drug cartel-driven anarchy and widespread poverty.
- Police State: Unsurprisingly for a police chief, if he becomes president, he'll turn Mexico into this. And considering the circumstances of his election, it might be even seen positively by the Mexican people.
- Repressive, but Efficient: A huge part of his legitimacy is that he's capable of restoring some sense of stability and prosperity after the failed neoliberal reforms.
- State Sec: Gertz leads the DFS, formally Mexico's intelligence agency and secret police, which he turned into a paramilitary police unit.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Gertz might be extremely authoritarian even by PRI standards, but as he becomes president after de la Madrid's reforms failing, his repression and waves of arrests are popular among the public, who see him as better than the economic oligarchs.
Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta
Full Name: Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
- Capitalism Is Bad: Inverted. Colosio is among the neoliberal technocrats within PRI, and as such, supports radical liberalisation of the markets. However, rather than shock therapy, Colosio supports slower process to halt possible oligarchisation, and wishes to further the welfare state to ensure the new system doesn't drop people into poverty.
Carlos Salinas de Gortari
Full Name: Carlos Salinas de Gortari
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
Other Important Politicians
Luis Echeverría
Full Name: Luis Echeverría Álvarez
Party: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
- Control Freak: Echeverría is obsessed with keeping tabs on everyone and everything. He's the first president since Lázaro Cárdenas, elected in 1934, to break the tradition of former presidents retiring from politics and public life, to the chagrin of PRI traditionalists.
- The Ghost: Both in game and in a meta sense - Echeverría never appears in person in any position of power, as he nominally retired from politics after his presidency in 1976. He, however, de facto rules Mexico as a Shadow Dictator, and removing him from power is a major task for all 1982 presidents.
- Master Computer: Echeverría believes technological progress is the way forward, rather than abandoning the PRI way of doing things. As a result, he supports total automation of Mexican economy, along with using an all-encompassing computer network to keep the entire nation under surveillance.
- Politically Correct Villain: For all of Echeverría's flaws, he supports land reform and supports emancipation for indigenous Mexicans. Considering the land reform upset influential landowners while the indigenous Mexicans are a disenfranchised group with little-to-no power, this can be only explained as at least partially genuine concern for the disadvantaged.
- Additionally, although that might be simply attempt at PR, Echeverría adopted left-wing populist rhetoric and has always supported social and economic programmes to aid the poor.
- Shadow Dictator: Echeverría operates an extensive network of allies and puppets, bringing many institutions under his thumb, in addition to being de facto leader of the Nacionalista faction within PRI.
- Visionary Villain: Echeverría believes his plans for creating an all-controlling computer system is what's best for PRI and Mexico.
The Rebellions
Scenario I Rebels
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Flag of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Common Names: EZLN, Zapatistas
Official Name: Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Starting Leader: Subcomandante Marcos
Ideology: Independent Socialism
- Chummy Commies: Though they themselves would reject such a label, the EZLN are socialist rebels who wish to protect the poor, especially the often oppressed indigenous populations of Mexico, oppose what they view as negative aspects of Globalization, and support land distribution and democracy.
Subcomandante Marcos
Full Name: Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente
Party: Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)
Ideology: Independent Socialism
- The Faceless: Much like in real life, and like other Zapatista subcomandantes, he is never seen without his mask on.
- The Heavy: As his title of Subcomandante (Subcommander) implies, Marcos is not the actual leader of the EZLN. While he is their military leader and spokesman, he answers to the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee Central Command.
- Token Minority: Inverted and downplayed. While there are plenty of non-Mayan Mexicans who support the EZLN, Marcos is one of the few non-Mayan leaders, being the son of Spanish immigrants, making him the Token Majority.
United Magonista Communes
United Magonista Communes
Common Names: Magonistas
Official Name: United Magonista Communes
Starting Leader: Tomás Cruz Lorenzo
Ideology: Independent Socialism
Tomás Cruz Lorenzo
Full Name: Tomás Cruz Lorenzo
Party: Mexican Liberal Party (PLM)
Ideology: Independent Socialism
Mexican Social State
Common Names: Nazi Mexico, Fascist Mexico
Official Name: Mexican Social State
Starting Leader: Salvador Borrego
Ideology: Neo-Nazismnote
Salvador Borrego
Full Name: Salvador Borrego
Party: Organization for the National Will (OVN)
National Synarchist Union
Common Names: Synarchists
Official Name: National Synarchist Union
Starting Leader: Salvador Abascal
Ideology: Neo-Fascismnote
Salvador Abascal
Full Name: Salvador Abascal
Party: National Synarchist Union (UNS)
Ideology: Neo-Fascismnote
Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco
Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco
Common Names: Free Jalisco, Jalisco Cartel, Guadalajara Cartel
Official Name: Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco
Starting Leader: Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Ideology: Drug Cartelnote
- The Cartel: While they may claim to be an actual state, in reality they are just a front for the Guadalajara Cartel, to the point of having the same ideology as the Gulf Cartel.
Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Full Name: Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo
Party: Jalisco Independence Party (PJI)
Ideology: Drug Cartelnote
- The Don: One of the founders, and current leader, of the Guadalajara Cartel.
Gulf Cartel
Gulf Cartel
Common Names: Gulf Cartel
Official Name: Gulf Cartel
Starting Leader: Adolfo Costanzo
Ideology: Drug Cartelnote
- The Cartel: As the name implies, they are a drug cartel, one of the oldest and most infamous in Mexican history.
- Not Even Bothering with an Excuse: Unlike the Guadalajara Cartel, they aren't even pretending to be anything more than a drug cartel.
Adolfo Costanzo
Full Name: Adolfo de Jesús Costanzo
Party: Costanzo Loyalists
Ideology: Drug Cartelnote
- Hollywood Satanism: An infamous real life example. Costanzo is an occultist who "sees the future" thanks to bloody sacrificial riturals, and makes a "soup" by boiling dead animals and people in a ritualistic pot, then drinks it to absorb their power.
Scenario II Rebels
Union of Socialist States
Common Names: Communist Mexico
Official Name: Union of Socialist States
Starting Leader: Arnoldo Martínez Verdugo
Ideology: Eurocommunismnote
Arnoldo Martínez Verdugo
Full Name: Arnoldo Martínez Verdugo
Party: Communist Party of Mexico (PCM)
Ideology: Eurocommunismnote
National Democratic Front
National Democratic Front
Common Names: Catholic Mexico
Official Name: National Democratic Front
Starting Leader: Gumersindo Magaña
Ideology: Emergency Governmentnote
Gumersindo Magaña
Full Name: Gumersindo Magaña Negrete
Party: Mexican Democratic Party (PDM)
Ideology: Emergency Governmentnote
Scenario III Rebels
National Democratic Front
Common Names: PPS Mexico, PRD Mexico
Official Name: National Democratic Front
Starting Leader: Heberto Castillo
Ideology: Left-wing Populismnote
Heberto Castillo
Full Name: Heberto Castillo
Party: Popular Socialist Party (PPS)
Ideology: Left-wing Populismnote
National Action Front
Common Names: PAN Mexico
Official Name: National Democratic Front
Starting Leader: Pablo Emilio Madero
Ideology: Social Conservatism
Pablo Emilio Madero
Full Name: Pablo Emilio Madero
Party: National Action Party (PAN)
Ideology: Social Conservatism
United States Invasion
U.S. Forces Mexico
Common Names: USFM, U.S. Forces Mexico
Official Name: United States Forces Mexico
Guadalajara Cartel
Common Names: Guadalajara Cartel, The Federation
Official Name: Guadalajara Cartel
Republic of Yucatán
Common Names: Yucatán
Official Name: Republic of Yucatán
