25 years after Colosio's historic speech

On March 6, 1994, the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for the Presidency of Mexico, Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta, gave a speech on the occasion of the LXV anniversary of the party. Before a Monument to the Revolution full of thousands of people, Colosio delivered a historic speech with which it was said, broke relations with the PRI and then-President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. 17 days later, the candidate was murdered in the Lomas Taurinas neighborhood of Tijuana, Baja California. This is the whole Colosio speech that moved thousands of people.

Party companions;

Compatriots:

Here is the PRI with its strength. Here is the PRI with its organizations; he is with his militancy, he is with the sensitivity of his women and his men. Here is the PRI with its strong political vocation. Here is the PRI to encourage citizen participation.

Here is the PRI to maintain the peace and stability of the country, to preserve unity among Mexicans. Here is the PRI in a struggle. Here is the PRI celebrating another year of intense political activity.

Here is the PRI that recognizes the achievements, but also the one that knows about the insufficiencies, the one that knows about the pending problems.

Here is the PRI that recognizes that economic modernization only acquires true meaning, when it translates into greater well-being for Mexican families and that to be durable it must be accompanied by the strengthening of our democracy. This is the requirement we face and we will respond to it firmly.

The PRI recognizes its responsibility and this is of the greatest importance for the political advance of Mexico. We PRIs know that being heirs of the Mexican Revolution is great pride, but that does not guarantee our political legitimacy. We must win legitimacy day after day, with our proposals, with our actions, with our arguments.

As a Party, we had a birth that we are all proud of: the PRI prevented Mexico from falling into the vicious circle of so many sister countries of Latin America, which lost decades between anarchy and dictatorship.

Stability, internal peace, economic growth, and social mobility are assets that would have been unimaginable without the PRI.

But our inheritance must be a source of demand, not complacency or immobility. Only authoritarian parties claim to base their legitimacy on their inheritance. We win the democratic parties daily.

Friends of the party:

We emerged from a Revolution that today continues to offer paths for popular demands. It is to his principles of democracy, freedom, and justice that we owe ourselves.

The ideals of the Mexican Revolution inspire today's tasks. The Mexican Revolution, humanist and social, demands and demands us. The Mexican Revolution is still our best horizon today.

We will lead a new stage in the political transformation of Mexico. We know that in this process, only Mexican society has a place insured. The political parties have to prove our vision.

In this hour, the strength of the PRI arises from our capacity for change, from our ability to change responsibly. This is what the Nation demands.

Our vision and our historical link with the government assured us the opportunity to participate in the great changes in the country. The strength of the government was to a large extent the strength of our Party. But today the moment is different: only our capacity, our initiative, our presence in Mexican society, and our work, are what will give us strength.

No one can replace our effort. Nobody can assure us a role in the transformation of Mexico if we do not fight for it and if we do not win it before the citizens.

The stage was left behind in which the political struggle took place, essentially, within our organization and not with other parties. Those times have passed.

Today we live in competition and to competition, we have to go; to do so, they leave behind old practices: those of a PRI that only talked with itself and with the government, those of a party that did not have to make great efforts to win.

As a competitive party, the PRI today has no assured triumphs, it has to fight for them and it has to assume that in democracy only victory will give us the stature of our political presence.

When the government has tried to concentrate on political initiatives, it has weakened the PRI. That is why today, before the political contest, before the electoral contest, the PRI, of the government, only demands impartiality and firmness in the application of the law. We do not want any concessions on the margin of votes or votes outside the law!

We do not pretend to substitute the responsibilities of the government, but neither we pretend that the government performs the functions that only we, as a party, have to play.

Today we are facing authentic competition. The government will not give us the triumph: the triumph will come from our work, our effort, our dedication.

The times of political competition in our country have put an end to any presumption of the existence of a state party. The times of political competition are the great opportunity that we have as a party to turn our great strength into independence concerning the government.

Today we are the option that offers change responsibly. We are the option that best knows what has been done. Who knows the results of their programs, their successes, and their mistakes.

We are the option capable of preserving what has been successful and we are the option to find new ways of solving the pending problems.

We do not understand change as an indiscriminate rejection of what others did. We understand it as the ability to learn, innovate, to overcome deficiencies and obstacles.

Let's change, yes! Let's change! But let's do it responsibly, consolidating the real advances that have been made, and of course, maintaining our own: our values and our culture!

Mexico does not want political adventures! Mexico does not want to jump into the void !. Mexico does not want setbacks to schemes that were already in power and proved ineffective! Mexico wants democracy but rejects its perversion: demagogy!

We offer to change with direction and responsibility, with peace, with tranquillity. Those who think that the democratic transformation of Mexico demands the disappearance of the PRI are mistaken.

We have not been exempt from mistakes, but we could hardly explain contemporary Mexico without the contribution of our party. That is why, despite our detractors and the criticism of our opponents, we are proudly PRI members.

We must admit that today we need to transform politics to comply with Mexicans.

We propose the reform of power so that there is a new relationship between the citizen and the State. Today, before the prism of Mexico, before the Mexicans, I express my commitment to reform the power to democratize it and to put an end to any vestige of authoritarianism.

We know that the origin of many of our evils lies in an excessive concentration of power. A concentration of power leads to wrong decisions; the monopoly of initiatives; to abuses, the excesses. Reforming power means a presidential is strictly subject to the constitutional limits of its republican and democratic origin.

Reforming power means strengthening and respecting the powers of the Federal Congress.

Reforming power means making the system of justice, an independent entity of maximum respectability and certainty among the institutions of the Republic.

Reforming power means bringing government to the communities, through new federalism. It also means new methods of administration for each citizen to obtain efficient and timely responses when he requires services, when he poses his problems, or when he dreams of horizons closer to the hands of his children.

These are my commitments to the reform of power. This is how I think that each citizen will have more liberties, more guarantees so that their interests are respected; to enjoy security and an impartial application of the law.

We PRI believe in change responsibly.

That is why we have made new proposals, that we have assumed new tasks. That is why we call - before anyone else - a debate between the candidates for the Presidency of the Republic.

We have encouraged agreements between parties; we have proposed revising the electoral list; We have requested the participation of observers throughout the electoral process and the integration of a system of timely results.

That is why we have also resolved to give transparency to all our expenses.

We are choosing candidates for various positions in a popular election.

Friends:

We have to take advantage of this process to strengthen our organization. All PRI members have a task to fulfill, and we all have a responsibility to assume.

We do not want candidates who, being nominated, are the first to be surprised at knowing their supposed militancy, we are the PRI members themselves.

We assume all these commitments of republican reform, democratic and federal reform; reform of procedures and their context; of internal reform of the PRI.

And we do it because we are aware that Mexican society has changed and that consequently demands a change in political practices. The PRI will participate with civility and for our pluralism in the elections on August 21.

As a candidate of the PRI for the Presidency of Mexico, I reaffirm my unwavering commitment to the democratic transformation of Mexico.

Let it be understood: that day there can only be one winner. Only the clear, unobjectionable triumph of the people of Mexico is admissible.

And for the people of Mexico to triumph on August 21, the political parties, all of us, will have to subject ourselves to the law and only to it, without advantages for anyone, without prepotencies, without abuses, and without arbitrariness.

Therefore, congruent with my demand for a democratic election, I hope that the Congress of the Union will decide on the appropriate electoral reforms, always based on the consensus that the parties have been building within the framework of the Agreement for Peace, Justice, and Democracy, signed on January 27.

I hope that together we will expand the autonomy and strengthen the impartiality of our electoral bodies, so that the popular will, and only it, determine the results of the elections.

Reliability, certainty, regularity, and electoral cleanliness cannot continue to be only aspirations, they have to be realities that are imposed on the consciences of citizens. Hence our commitment to the participation of observers in the electoral process.

The choice is of society and therefore can not be a closed matter. Its transparency requires the participation of observers and does not exclude that it can be given the broadest testimony, both by our citizens and international visitors. In no way do we have to look with fear at those who wish to know the nature of our democratic processes.

Our choices and I say it with full conviction, will not have shame to hide.

The PRI will be at the forefront of the democratic advance of Mexico, assuming its responsibilities and responding to the demands of Mexican society.

In these months of intense tours throughout the country, visiting many communities, contact, and dialoguing with my Party and the entire citizenry, I have met with the Mexico of just claims, old grievances, and new demands; the Mexico of hopes, the one that demands answers, the one that can no longer wait.

That is the Mexico that calls us today; that is the Mexico that summons my conscience; that is the Mexico to which we will give security, to which we will give direction in the new stage of change.

I see a Mexico of indigenous communities, which can no longer wait for the demands of justice, dignity and progress; of indigenous communities that have the great strength of their cohesion, their culture, and which they are willing to believe, participate, to build new horizons.

I see a Mexico of peasants who still does not have the answers they deserve. I have seen an impoverished, indebted countryside, but I have also seen a field with the capacity to react, to pay off if the right incentives are established and ingrained.

I see a change in the field; a field with a great productive vocation; a field that is called to play a decisive role in the new stage of progress for our country.

I see a Mexico of workers who can not find the jobs or the wages they demand; but I also see a Mexico of workers who has decidedly joined the productive effort, and to whom we must respond with jobs, training, training, and better salaries.

I see a Mexico of young people who face every day the difficult reality of the lack of employment, and who do not always have access to education and preparation opportunities. Young people are often bordered by crime, and drug addiction; but I also see young people who, when they have the support when they have the opportunities they demand, decisively participate with their energy in the progress of the Nation.

I see a Mexico of women who still do not have the opportunities that belong to them; women with great capacity, a great capacity to enrich our economic, political and social life. Women in sum demand fuller, fairer participation in Mexico today.

I see a Mexico of entrepreneurs, of small and medium enterprises, sometimes discouraged by bureaucracy, by the sea of procedures, by the discretion of the authorities. They are creative and dedicated people, willing to work, willing to risk, who want opportunities, and who demand an economy that offers them more favorable conditions.

I see a Mexico of professionals who does not find the jobs that help them develop their skills and abilities.

A Mexico of teachers and teachers, of university students, researchers, who ask for recognition in their professional life, who ask for the elevation of their income and more favorable conditions for the yield of their academic fruits; technicians looking for opportunities to contribute their best effort.

All of them are women and men who have contributed a lot to the construction of the country in which we live and to whom we will have to respond.

I see a Mexico with hunger and thirst for justice. A Mexico of aggrieved people, of people aggrieved by the distortions that the law imposes who should serve it. Of women and men afflicted by abuse of the authorities or by the arrogance of government offices.

I see citizens distressed by the lack of security, citizens who deserve better services, and governments that comply with them. Citizens who have not yet been defeated in the future; are citizens who have hope and who are willing to add their efforts to achieve progress.

I see a Mexico convinced that this is the time for answers; a Mexico that demands solutions. The problems we face can be overcome.

I intend to lead a government to respond to all Mexicans. Change with direction and responsibility cannot wait.

I express my deepest commitment to Chiapas. That is why we must listen to all the voices, we must not admit that nobody monopolizes the feeling of the people of Chiapas.

I express my solidarity to all those Chiapas who have not yet told their truth, to all those who have a voice to transmit, and to all those who have a word to express.

We must assume and we must decide. We must decide if we assume fully as a plural society or if we grant only to some the interlocution of our interests.

Chiapas is a call to the conscience of all Mexicans. But our proposal for change is not limited to responding only to Chiapas. We want to respond to all Mexicans, to all peoples, to all neighborhoods, to all communities.

We want to fulfil the Chiapas, but also the Mexicans of the Huasteca, those of La Laguna, those of the Mountain of Guerrero, those of the Sierra Norte de Puebla, those of Tepito or those of the ravines of Alvaro Obregón. , here in the Federal District; to those of the port of Anapra, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua; those of Colonia Insurgentes, in Guadalajara, Jalisco; or those of San Bernabé, in Monterrey, Nuevo León.

My commitment is to all Mexicans; my commitment is to fight against inequality and avoid creating new privileges for groups or regions.

Mexicans before the conflict have ratified our essential unity under a flag and our spirit of concord.

Our institutions proved their legitimacy and effectiveness. From the solution to the conflict, they have come out strengthened.

From here I express my appreciation to the Mexican Army for its patriotism, loyalty, and dedication to the defense of national interest and unity.

In front of Chiapas, PRI members must reflect. As a party of stability and social justice, we are ashamed to realize that we were not sensitive to the great demands of our communities; that we were not next to them in their aspirations; that we were not up to the commitment that they expected from us.

We have to assume this self-criticism and we have to break with the practices that made us a rigid organization. We have to overcome attitudes that weaken our capacity for innovation and change.

Let us recover our initiative, recover our strength, represent the best causes, offer ways of peace, to respond to injustices.

Let's recover those values. Let's do it in this campaign. Let's start by affirming our identity, our militant pride, and affirming our independence from the Government.

It is time for a new economic impulse; It is time to grow without losing financial stability or price stability. The economy, beyond the technical goals, has to be at the service of Mexicans.

Therefore, the new economic growth has to be distributed with greater equity, growing jobs, with sufficient income.

Let's not leave the slightest doubt: Mexico will close this century with a much stronger economy. There are conditions to do it, and society demands it.

The task of growth with stability will be for all Mexicans.

It is time for a trust for all, to translate good national finances into good family finances.

It is time to convert economic stability into better income for the worker, a better income for the farmer, for the farmer or the merchant, for the employee or the clerk, for the artisan or the professional, for the intellectual, and for the teachers and teachers of Mexico.

It is time for effective support and the boost to the effort made by women and men at the head of the micro, small and medium enterprises. That they are led to overcome their difficulties, that they are supported to expand their businesses with better technologies to make them more competitive in the markets.

It is the hour of the great fight against inequality, it is time to overcome extreme poverty, and it is time the guarantee all education, health, and decent housing. That is the social reform of which I spoke in Huejutla.

It is time to do justice to our indigenous people, to overcome their lags and their shortcomings; to respect their dignity. As I said in San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca: it is time to celebrate a new pact of the Mexican State with the indigenous communities.

It is time for new opportunities for the Mexican countryside, as I committed it in Anenecuilco, Morelos. It is time to decisively and firmly confront poverty, and improve the living standards of the peasants.

It is time for Article 27 of the Constitution to be expressed in welfare, justice, in freedom for rural men. And it is time to end forever with every vestige of latifundio; It is time to give certainty to the ejido, to the communal lands, and the small property.

It is time to push for land reform for our time. It is time to promote more and better investment in the field; to encourage the participation of peasants better and more effectively, with freedom.

It is time to solve the problems of overdue loans in the field, of scarce and expensive credit.

It is time to associate the efforts of the producers; It is time to build more savings banks, more credit unions, and launch new marketing mechanisms.

It is time for the regions of Mexico, to take better advantage of resources, to take better advantage of the capacity and talent of each of the communities of the country, each city of our country, and each state of the Republic.

A regional development that opens the hopes of every corner of Mexico, that channels resources to maintain the road, rail, port, hydraulic, and energy infrastructure.

It is time to overcome the arrogance of centralism, as I said in Jalisco; to strongly support the municipality. It is time for a new Federalism; it is time to endow our states with greater political and financial power, as I said in Tabasco; It is time to fully guarantee the conservation of our natural resources, our environment, and our ecology.

It is time for a nationalistic and quality education; it's time for education for competition; It is the hour of our schools, of our technology; it's time for the public university in Mexico; It is time for the great infrastructure for the training of all Mexicans who want to progress.

Education is our greatest battle for the future. We will allocate more resources to it.

It is time to reform power, to build a new balance in the life of the Republic; It is the hour of the power of the citizen. It's time for democracy in Mexico; It is time to make the good application of justice the great instrument to fight the cacicazgo, to fight the temples of power and the abandonment of our communities.

It is time to close the door to influence, corruption, and impunity!

It is the time of the Nation. It is time to be strong by making Mexico strong. It is time to reaffirm the values that unite us. It is a time of change with a sure course to guarantee peace and tranquillity for our children.

The only continuity that I propose is that of change; that of the change that conserves the valuable. We want a change with responsibility in which no area of national life is forgotten; we want a democratic change for a better economy, for greater social development. And today there are the conditions to achieve it; society demands it.

Today it is clear that the changes cannot be marginal or isolated. The path of change runs in the same direction and with the same intensity and urgency in the field of politics, in the field of economics, and social welfare.

With firmness, conviction, and full confidence, I declare: that I want to be President of Mexico to head this new stage of change in Mexico!

Friends and friends; friends and friends:

I assume the commitment of political leadership for trust; a responsible political leadership, to carry out the changes we require, to block the way to any destabilizing intention, provocation, crisis, or confrontation.

We will make our ability to change the best argument to summon the confidence of Mexicans, guarantee peace, to strengthen our unity.

We are a great nation because we have remained united, but for plurality.

We want a united Mexico, we want a strong Mexico, we want a sovereign Mexico. A Mexico of freedoms, a Mexico with peace, because the channels of democracy and justice are broad.

There is room for everyone in Mexico for which we fight hard.

I am a Mexican with popular roots. I am a Mexican who has traveled our country on many occasions, who never ceases to marvel at the great variety and human wealth of our country, and who never ceases to notice shortcomings and pains.

I am passionate about living, sharing, listening, and understanding the people I belong to. I learn daily from their frank attitudes, from their simple attitudes.

I reiterate that I come from a culture of effort and not privilege. Like my parents, like my grandparents, I am a man of work who relies more on facts than on words. But for that very reason, I am a man of my word, a man of my word that I want to commit myself to the change that I have proposed: a change with direction and responsibility.

The great claim of Mexico is a democracy. The country wants to exercise it fully. Mexico demands we will respond.

As a Candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, I am ready too.

Let's give our best effort in this election.

We are going to make you want.

We must not lower our guard.

We are going for the victory.

Let's win it with Mexico and win it for Mexico.

Long live the PRI!

Viva Mexico!