PMS PARM PFCRN PPS Coalición Obrera, Campesina y Estudiantil del Istmo Unión Popular Revolucionaria Emiliano Zapata Central Campesina Cardenista Central Independiente de Obreros Agrícolas y Campesinos Asamblea de Barrios de la Ciudad de México Unión de Colonias Populares
The National Democratic Front had its origins in the PRI, where the Democratic Current - founded in 1986 and led by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, César Buenrostro, Ifigenia Martínez, among others - tried to democratize the internal selection of the PRI's presidential candidate, while also protesting against the economic policies of then-president Miguel de la Madrid.[1] When in October 1987 Carlos Salinas de Gortari was nominated the official PRI candidate De la Madrid, the members of the Democratic Current broke from the PRI, looking for a party to support Cárdenas' presidential candidacy.[citation needed]
Cárdenas and Muñoz Ledo made a pact in 1988 with the Mexican left in which the Mexican Socialist Party (whose candidate was Heberto Castillo) endorsed Cárdenas' candidacy as well.[2][3] It also allied itself with many social organizations, like the Coalition of Workers, Peasants, and Students of the Isthmus (COCEI) (that had gained the local elections in Juchitán de Zaragoza), the Independent Central of Agricultural Workers and Peasants (CIOAC), the Assembly of Districts of the City of Mexico (created after 1985 earthquakes), the Union of Popular Colonies and the Emiliano Zapata Revolutionary Union among others. This agglomerate of civil parties and organizations would be, along with the Democratic Current of the PRI, the base of the future PRD.
Aftermath
The official winner of the 6 July 1988 presidential election Carlos Salinas de Gortari, in what has been widely considered a fraudulent election. Cárdenas protested against the alleged fraud, and he claimed victory for himself.[4] Cárdenas and the other leaders of the FDN would held multitudinous protests against the fraud, but they were unable to prevent Salinas de Gortari from taking office.[4][5]
After the elections, many of the parties and social organizations that had formed the National Democratic Front decided to join forces to create a new party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), that would be formally founded on 5 May 1989, with Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas as its president.[citation needed]