The military is encroaching on Mexican democracy

Mexico has had its share of political ills, but at least its modern history has been free of military coups and juntas. Contrary to their counterparts elsewhere in Latin America, the Mexican armed forces have mostly kept to their barracks — doing what civilian authorities have asked. One oft-told anecdote from the 1960s illustrates the point. President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, who governed from 1964 to 1970, once complained to the head of Pemex, Mexico’s national oil company, that the defense minister claimed that the military had enough fuel to last only two days. The Pemex boss replied by asking the president whether he really wanted the armed forces to have more. After some reflection, Díaz Ordaz decided he did not.