The Future of the PRD and the Alliances

Jesús Zambrano wants to succeed his fellow Chucho Jesús Ortega as the president of the PRD, which many take as a sign that the alliances with the PAN will continue beyond 2011. But not in 2012; both Ortega and the PAN's Gustavo Madero were adamant in a recent appearance with PRI boss Humberto Moreira that there would be no presidential alliance. They also said that the alliances are only to eliminate the last vestiges of the PRI's authoritarian nationalism, a claim that holds up in some states where an alliance was used (Puebla and Oaxaca) better than others (Guerrero). But while the alliances are often opportunistic, a PAN-PRD partnership at the presidential level would be absurd.