MEXICO CITY (AP) — Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, a three-time Mexican presidential candidate and one of the country's most important modern political voices, died Wednesday at 92, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said.
An undisputed leader of the Mexican left, Cárdenas was the son of one of the country’s most popular presidents — Gen. Lázaro Cárdenas. He was respected by allies and critics alike.
Cárdenas played a pivotal role in Mexico’s democratization, beginning with his first presidential bid in 1988, when his defeat was widely considered the result of massive electoral fraud, and continuing until his break with his former ally, ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
He was “a man of firm principles,” Sheinbaum said on X, who transformed Mexico’s political life by leading “a peaceful democratic movement that channeled millions of Mexicans’ yearning for change.”
“That historic election day, when he should have been recognized as president, marked the beginning of the democratic transformation. His dignity and republican convictions remain an essential reference point for our nation," she added.
