Alina Rocha Menocal is a Research Fellow in the Poverty and Public Policy Group. She works on the developmental state; international aid system; democratic governance; institution building; accountability; decentralisation; social policy; rule of law.

Email: a.rochamenocal@odi.org.uk

Three weeks after the presidential elections held on 2 July, the situation in Mexico remains tense and volatile. The race was decided by the narrowest of margins. According to the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), Felipe Calderón of the Party of National Action (PAN) defeated Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) by 0.58 percentage points, or less than 250,000 votes in an election in which 42 million votes were cast. This result is in the process of being challenged in the courts -- and there will be no official winner until the Federal Electoral ...   more »

Last night at 11 o’clock, the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE), the Mexican federal institute in charge of elections, announced that the presidential election that took place yesterday was too close to call. Results will have to wait until this coming Wednesday, 5 July.

As predicted in numerous polls over the past few weeks and months, the race between Felipe Calderón of the right-leaning PAN and Andrés Manuelópez Obrador of the left-leaning PRD/Coalición por el Bien de Todos is at dead heat, with Roberto Madrazo of the PRI trailing behind.

The good news seems to be that at least ...   more »