National Democratic Front (Mexico)

The National Democratic Front (Frente Democrático Nacional, FDN) was a broad coalition of leftist political parties and social movements in Mexico that contested the 1988 presidential election. It was formed largely in response to perceived corruption and authoritarianism within the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and sought to challenge its dominance.

The FDN's candidate in the 1988 election was Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, a former PRI governor who had broken with the party to form the Democratic Current (Corriente Democrática), a movement advocating for internal reform within the PRI. When these efforts failed, Cárdenas left the PRI and became the standard-bearer for the FDN.

The coalition included a diverse range of political organizations, including the Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution (PARM), the Socialist Workers' Party (PST), the Popular Socialist Party (PPS), and the Mexican Democratic Party (PDM), as well as numerous labor unions, peasant organizations, and civic groups.

The 1988 election was highly contested and controversial. While the official results declared PRI candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari the winner, many observers believe that Cárdenas won the election but was denied victory through electoral fraud. A significant disruption in the vote-counting system during the election, later referred to as "the fall of the system," further fueled accusations of manipulation.

Although the FDN did not win the presidency, the 1988 election marked a turning point in Mexican politics. It demonstrated the growing strength of the opposition and ultimately paved the way for the PRI's eventual loss of power in the 2000 presidential election. Following the 1988 election, the FDN dissolved and many of its constituent parties and movements regrouped to form the Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD), which became one of Mexico's major political forces. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas served as its first president.