Who is Felipe Calderon?

Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa, of the ruling National Action Party (PAN), is the new President-Elect of Mexico. As you know, just last week Mexico's electoral court named him the winner of the hotly contested presidential election that took place July 2. His chief rival, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), had demanded a recount of the votes, and has still refused to concede defeat. López Obrador has even vowed to establish his own parallel government.

In some ways, it seems López Obrador has stolen Calderón's thunder. News stories are full of reports of López Obrador's angry rhetoric and blustery threats. I would guess that most of you know more about López Obrador than you do about Calderón.

So who is Felipe Calderón and how did he work his way up the ladder of Mexican politics?

Felipe Calderón is a lifelong politician.
Calderón's family jokes that he started in politics before he was even born. His first campaign, in fact, was in 1962 - when he was still in the womb. His pregnant mother was helping her husband, Luis Calderón Vega -a PAN founder - who was managing the governor's race in Michoacán State, where the family lived in the city of Morelia.

As a child, young Felipe was surrounded by politics. He handed out leaflets when other children were outside playing. He rode around in a truck with loudspeakers while his friends were going to movies and hanging out in the park. He learned what it was like to experience defeat, as time after time, PAN lost elections.

In those days, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ruled Mexico with an iron fist. Felipe Calderón says his father consoled him often by saying that democracy was a long-term affair that required patience and perseverance.

As a junior high student, classmates remember young Felipe talking of his ambition to someday be president of Mexico. He was a studious, serious boy, they say, who was teased for thinking the powerful PRI would ever lose an election. Ironically, he used to round up neighborhood children to monitor polling stations to catch the PRI - well known for tampering with votes.

Eventually, Felipe Calderón's name began to appear on the ballot. He became a lawyer, and by the time he was 26, he was a member of the municipal assembly in Mexico City. He was a member of Congress before he turned 30, and chairman of PAN at 34.

He is committed to PAN, both personally and professionally.

Politics is so much a part of his life that Felipe Calederón married a PAN Congresswoman, Margarita Zavala, with whom he has three children. He served as PAN president and secretary general in the 1990s, and during this time the party expanded its power from one to three states.

He attended graduate school at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1999 and after receiving his master's degree there in public administration, he returned to Mexico to work for the presidential campaign of Vincente Fox. In 2000, Fox's victory ended 71 years of single-party rule by the PRI.

Calderón served as president of the party's parliamentary block from 2000-03 in the lower house of Congress, and he briefly served as Mr. Fox's energy minister before throwing his hat in the ring to become the country's next president.

He did not initially receive the support of President Fox, however. Fox backed his former interior minister, Santiago Creel, and Calderón was often vocal in his criticism of Fox. In November of 2005, Calderón won the primary election over Creel, and became the PAN presidential candidate.

If you've been following Mexico's election events, you know what happened next. Leftist López Obrador won support among Mexico's poorest sectors, pledging to end free-market reforms and pull millions out of poverty with welfare benefits and new jobs. Calderón promised to maintain Mexico's stable government, growing the economy through free-trade policies. In the end, election results of July 2 showed Calderón with 35.88% of the vote and López Obrador with 35.31%.

López Obrador demanded a recount and his supporters began a months-long protest, blocking roads and camping out in Mexico City's central square. Just last week, the tribunal certified Calderón's victory.

What do Mexicans think of their President-Elect?

Some Mexicans believe Felipe Calderón climbed the political ladder too quickly and that he is out of step with the everyday struggles of Mexicans. They say he is a candidate of the rich and powerful.

Those who grew up with Calderón disagree. They say that his childhood home, not far from Morelia's main square - where his mother, Carmen Hinojosa, still lives - is modest. He was an average, albeit quiet, young man, they say. When he was not out politicking, he played the guitar. He didn't have particular luck with girls, they say, attended church regularly, and "was just one of the guys." They believe Calderón has Mexico's best interests at heart.

Stay tuned: We'll bring you more information about Calderón and Mexican politics in coming days. Friday is Independence Day in Mexico - always festive, loud, and raucous. I suspect this year will be no different.

Best Regards,

Marzena Romanowicz
International Living, Mexico

For answers to your questions about Mexico, please e-mail our office at Mexico@InternationalLiving.com.

P.S. Our guide to living in Mexico, Mexico The Owner's Manual, offers lots of information about the politics and economics of Mexico - the largest economy in Latin America and the U.S.' third-largest trading partner. The 200+-page manual also offers information for expats about health care, insurance, visas, and more - including a complete ratings guide to help you determine where in Mexico the best place is for you. Order it here.