MEXICO'S 2018 ELECTIONS
On our first episode, we are talking about the upcoming elections in Mexico on Sunday, July 1. This is a hugely important election, carrying historic significance, and giving the citizens of Mexico the opportunity to completely transform their government.
Voters in Mexico will be able to decide on more than 18,000 positions at all levels of government. This includes the presidency, 500 seats in the lower house,128 seats in the Senate, and governorships and other local seats all across Mexico. It’s a huge election with over 89 million Mexican citizens eligible to vote and nearly 12 million young people who will be able to vote for the first time.
We were lucky to speak about the upcoming elections with Dr. Rafael Fernández de Castro, a professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy and the Director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at UC San Diego. He previously served as foreign policy adviser to former President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón and was the founder of the Department of International Studies at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México in Mexico City.
We spoke about the Mexico elections as well as a recent panel discussion hosted by the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies called “Mexican Vote from Abroad, Will it Make a Difference?” where results were presented of a recent poll that surveyed how people living in the U.S. will be voting in the upcoming election. This is an interesting aspect of modern voting, not only because absentee voting has taken hold but also because it forces us to look at how campaigns can target populations abroad in the future and what kind of regulations and transparency measure will be needed to ensure transparency and accurately verify votes.
TEODORO MARTINEZ III
Teodoro Martinez III is a Master of International Affairs Candidate at the School of Global Policy and Strategy focusing on international economics and politics. He formerly worked as Communications Director at the California State Assembly and served as legislative staff working on a range of public policy issues including health, transportation, taxation, and housing after completing the California Senate Fellowship. He previously earned a B.A. in Communications at California State University, Monterey Bay where he researched pathways to civic engagement, conflict resolution, and intercultural communication.
DR. RAFAEL FERNÁNDEZ DE CASTRO
Dr. Rafael Fernández de Castro is a professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy and director of the Center for U.S. Mexican Studies at UC San Diego. He has published numerous academic articles and written several books, including “Contemporary U.S.- Latin American Relations: Cooperation or Conflict in the 21st Century?” and “The United States and Mexico: Between Partnership and Conflict” with Jorge Domínguez. He also worked as the Project Director of the UNDP’s Human Development Report for Latin America 2013-14, “Citizen Security With a Human Face: Evidence and Proposals for Latin America.” He is the founder and editor of Foreign Affairs Latin America and contributes to the daily newspaper El Financiero and a regular contributor to Televisa.