TNO Mexico - TV Tropes

• Alliance Meter: "The Leviathan" mechanic provides a helpful visual of the demographics that the PRI needs to appeal to: the workers, the intelligentsia, the peasantry, the industrialists, the DFS, and the party bureaucracy. Keeping them loyal will mean greater positive effects from the power they hold. If the President can't keep them loyal, they can use corruption to extract some benefits at a cost.
• Allohistorical Allusion: The Aleutians Crisis is this timeline's version of the 1960 U-2 Incident, in which a Japanese pilot is shot down and captured near US territory, just like how an American U-2 plane was downed in the USSR. Unlike OTL, the incident escalates into a standoff when Japan accuses the American government of violating the Aleutian Islands' demilitarization, sparking a showdown akin to the OTL Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Always Second Best: Behind the PRI, the second most powerful political party in Mexico is the Party of National Action (PAN). They have an appeal to the middle class, but they have not supplanted the PRI in decades, since the political system is structured to advantage the latter. The PAN regularly condemns the anti-democratic and corrupt measures of the PRI, but so far, they have failed to loosen their grip on the country.
• Authority in Name Only:
  • Officially, Mexico's ruling legal document is the Constitution of 1917, signed by Venustiano Carranza. It guarantees a lot of progressive ideas like collective ownership of the means of production and the freedom of speech, but most Presidents consider them to be guidelines rather than binding rules. At most, they'll pay lip service to the Constitution before flagrantly violating it.
  • Christians hated Article 130 of the Constitution, which enforced a church-state divide. The subsequent unrest led to the Cristero Wars, and the article has not been enforced since Cárdenas and Camacho made a deal with the Church.
  • The Secretary of the Interior officially controls the DFS, but there's little actual oversight over the security agency. The PRI is wary about this, knowing that the DFS could turn on them if they get too disloyal.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: One demand from the Mexican Revolution was "Tierra y Libertad", which birthed an ejido system of collective agriculture. Theoretically, federally-owned land should be allotted to the peasant communities who work on it together and, for a time, it gave much autonomy to this class. Unfortunately, the system would be run down with political negligence and corruption, unable to compete with more modern agricultural practices.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: The Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) was founded in 1936, and merged from unions nationwide under a Marxist ideology. The CTM got their political representation by integrating into Mexico's corporatist structure in 1938, but this meant sidelining their Marxist elements until the PRI practically took it over in 1947. Now, the CTM is the second-most powerful organization in Mexico, but it is now a tool used by the PRI to monopolize all union activity and support their regime.
• Being Good Sucks: Ejidos were set up after the Mexican Revolution so that peasant communities could collectively work the land and enjoy a greater amount of autonomy. But, even ignoring the corruption that plagues it, the ejidos are less profitable and efficient than the practices introduced by the Green Revolution, which is why technocrats like Salinas want to reserve aid for the most efficient ejidos, even if this means making the system more unfair and straying further away from the Revolution's original ideals.
• Better the Devil You Know: At least part of the reason why people don't challenge the PRI is because, as oppressive as the government can be, it guarantees stability. So long as they have their necessities met, they'll stay obedient rather than live the uncertain struggle of an anti-PRI guerrilla fighter.
• Big Fancy Castle: The Palacio de Lecumberri is an impressive building, whose walls span across multiple blocks of Mexico City, and beautifully meshes neoclassical and Spanish architectural styles. But, juxtaposing with its amazing appearance, it's also a dungeon to imprison and torture the PRI's enemies.
• Big Fancy House: Every PRI President, except for López Mateos, lives in Los Pinos, a beautiful mansion styled after a French palace and rooted in the heart of Mexico City.
• Boring, but Practical: One of the PRI's greatest successes is the Mexican Miracle, a development strategy that focuses on increasing economic growth, agricultural productivity, and living standards while keeping unemployment and poverty down. There is an in-game mechanic surrounding the Mexican Miracle, where the player has to keep an eye on how the economy develops and start construction projects to develop the nation. It's not as bombastic as fighting dissidents, but the economic strengths it grants are incredible and maintain Mexico's image as a rapidly developing country to respect.
• Bread and Circuses: The PRI is oppressive and corrupt, but they've made enough improvements in the living standards to keep most of the populace placated. In their eyes, the PRI spearheaded an economic miracle that uplifted Mexico from being one of the poorest Latin American countries in the 1930s, so they'll tolerate the status quo for as long as it is beneficial to them.
• Broken Pedestal: The Mexican Revolution was centered around peasants trying to free themselves from the landowning estates and they made up much of the PRI's support base. However, the decline of the PRI's conservative wing, along with a focus on industrialization and a return to the status quo, have alienated the peasants from the party to the point some support their rivals. The PRI will need to watch out for their threat level, as the Church and socialists will be keen on turning the angry peasants on the party.
• Church Going Villain: Among the many dissidents targeted by the PRI are the synarchists, far-right Catholics who bear ideological similarities to the fascists in Europe. Their most infamous party, the UNS, is irrelevant by the 1960s, but they are still active and some small parties carry on their legacy, like the Nationalist Party of Mexico.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Torture is an infamous tactic used by the DFS, which adds to their fearsome reputation.
• Corrupt Politician:
  • The party bureaucracy is filled with corrupt politicians who got their careers through nepotism and kleptocracy, in which they've obstructed attempts to hold them accountable for their illegal activities. And the President can't do anything dramatic about it either because these same corrupt officials are keeping the PRI machine going.
  • The ejido system is supposed to distribute federally-owned land so that the peasants can collectively work on it, but it's not great at guaranteeing peasant autonomy because the system is horribly neglected by corrupt politicians.
• Crapsaccharine World: From a technical standpoint, Mexico is a flourishing country that has enjoyed unparalleled economic growth from its population boom, increasing middle class, and improvements in quality of life. Despite its prosperity, Mexico is not the democratic country that it claims to be, as the Partido Revolucionario Institucional effectively runs it like a corrupt one-party state and must keep the illusion of freedom to stay in power. However, cracks in the image reveal themselves after the Yasuda Crisis in Japan fires and incite minor economic and political upheaval in Mexico by forcing layoffs and bankruptcies, which is nicknamed the Kabuki Effect. Upon this, the citizens finally rise in protest and each potential successor for the PRI has to manage a balancing act of appeasing the workers, peasantry, Federal Security Directorate, intelligentsia, industrialists, and party officials to win the presidency.
• Corrupt Politician: One of the biggest problems facing Mexico is corruption, as federal landlords often abuse the ejido system of collective agriculture and sacrifice the bureaucracy's efficiency in favor of earning promotions for themselves. For their part, the citizens are growing tired of this corruption, and calls for reform have been rising.
• Do Well, But Not Perfect: To get the United States or Japan's backing for the Olympics bid, Mexico will need to give them concessions to satisfy their heads of state. However, Mexico should not give them too many favors because overshooting will get the superpowers too involved in their affairs, making everyone uneasy about what this means for the country.
• The Dog Bites Back: When Mexico's resources were monopolized by foreign companies, the Constitution set up measures to counter this, namely in Article 27, which grants ownership of the country's resources to the government. It was used by Cárdenas to nationalize the oil industry, López Mateos to nationalize the electricity, and potentially Madrazo to redistribute agribusiness land to the ejidos.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Behind only the PRI itself in terms of influence, the CTM represents the labor sector of Mexico's corporatist system with an aggressive monopoly, coercing millions of workers to join them and being led by corrupt careerists who exploit the unions for power and profit, all while maintaining ties to the party and the industrialists. They are a useful ally to the PRI, but also a potential adversary if their interests conflict, especially since the CTM shares the power to authorize a strike on the scale of millions of participants.
• Dystopia Is Hard: A lot of Mexico's localization is dedicated to revealing the deep inefficiencies baked into the PRI's party-state bureaucracy, picking apart the famous OTL quote calling it the "perfect dictatorship":
  • Corrupt politicians are a dime a dozen in the PRI, and it will be extremely difficult to uproot them completely. This means that a lot of officials are willing to put their interests above the nation's, sacrificing administrative efficiency for their convenience.
  • The workers are supposed to be bossed around by the CTM because all legal trade unions are forced to join that corporation. But this doesn't stop them from occasionally rebelling against the PRI when they are sufficiently mistreated, sparking conflicts like the 1959 Railroad Strike.
  • As the PRI shifts its priorities to industrialization over agriculture, the peasantry is left in the dust and faces exploitation from corrupt agribusinesses and landowners. It's remarkably easy for the Church and socialists to capitalize on their pent-up anger, and turn them on the PRI. This strategy is used by the GPG to build themselves up, and the CCI nearly turns into a legitimate threat because of the peasants losing their patience with the CNC's negligence.
  • Even the DFS, the most efficient tool used by the PRI to shut down dissidence, is a bit of a loose cannon because they are capable of turning on the government, meaning that they are another demographic that the PRI must attend to.
• Easily Forgiven: Subverted. After carrying out a strict, violent policy of enforced atheism, the PRI and church reconciled a bit during Camacho's presidency in the 1940s. However, many religious people have not forgiven the PRI for their atrocities, so they helped found the PAN in 1939 and gave a major support base in their demographic.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Most of the PRI, power-hungry and pragmatic as they are, do not want any association with Europe's far-right regimes, as far back as Cárdenas’ time. Mexico outright supported the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, refused to recognize Franco's government, and condemned Italy and Germany's foreign aggression. Even now, they're still on icy terms with these regimes. This is especially significant because Mexico's foreign policy, the Estrada Doctrine, is built around the country being a neutral player in geopolitics.
• Evil Colonialist: Among the heinous actions committed by the PRI is their mistreatment of the Indigenous people, something that has persisted in Mexico ever since Spain colonized the Americas. Revolutionary figures subjugated and persecuted these groups to steal their land and, though a government department was created by Cárdenas to represent them, it did nothing to undo the injustices they suffered, including those committed by Cárdenas himself. Even in the 60s, Indigenous Mexicans are neglected at best, if more of their resources aren't being stolen by the federal government.
• Full-Circle Revolution:
  • The peasants fought and bled for the Mexican Revolution, overturning the Porfiriato and the horrible exploitation committed by the landowning haciendas. In the 1960s, the haciendas have returned, and the peasants are once more reduced to fodder to be oppressed. The only difference is that they're now being exploited by the agribusinesses that have emerged from the Green Revolution.
  • Many revolutionaries swore that the death of the Porfiriato would end Mexico's submission to powerful private enterprises, returning economic control to the Mexicans. But ever since the Cold War started, Mexico has gone back to attracting foreign capital, whether they be American companies, Japanese zaibatsus, or any other international business looking to make a profit. Some PRI officials have called out the party on this, but their complaints are largely ignored, and a thriving business community still exists in Mexico.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: The quality of life in Mexico is extremely unequal. If you threw a dart at a map of Mexican states, you could either end up in a modern city with all of the amenities offered by the PRI or a shanty town that operates off of horsepower and unpaved roads. In the game map, Mexico has the biggest income gaps between their richest and poorest states.
• Hollywood Atheist: The PRI's leadership is mostly made up of atheists and they've enforced a policy of militant atheism or aggressive secularization since the Mexican Revolution, using violence in the late 1920's.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Downplayed. The PRI improved Mexico's education system to foster a professional class, but many of its members became coldly receptive to the party, forming trade unions and dissident movements that run against their interests. They lack a corporation to represent them, but they still hold sizable influence over the middle class and foreign representatives, forcing the PRI to attend to them. It is paramount to maintain the support of the intelligentsia so the PRI regime may remain stable.
• A House Divided: While the PRI is the dominant party in Mexico, they are having problems maintaining a consensus concerning certain issues, due to conflicting interest groups. The PRI Old Guard is incredibly nationalistic and favors agrarian issues and industrialization, but the Alemanistas from the right of the party want even more rapid industrialization since they represent the middle class and industrialists. Meanwhile, the outspoken but divided left of the party, the Cardenistas, clamor for the socialist-inspired policies of Cárdenas with a rural focus, economic nationalism, and foreign neutrality, which is attractive to the working and rural class.
• Inherent in the System: A lot of problems can be attributed to the PRI dictatorship, which can technically be elected out of power, but that is practically impossible by 1962. They've rigged the political system in their favor, resolved their internal divisions, and entrenched themselves so deeply that half the population is involved in some organization tied to the PRI. The last major violent election cycle was back in 1952. Now, the only legal opposition party is the barely influential PAN and the two other legal parties, the Popular Socialist Party and the Party of the Authentic Mexican Revolution, who are in a coalition with the PRI anyway and support their candidates in exchange for a few seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
• It's All About Me: The corrupt PRI officials are adamantly against any legislation that can harm their careers, even if it would be a net positive for the rest of the country. To them, their only priority is themselves.
• Joke Character: Enforced. The Mexican military is kept afloat with the barest amount of funding, making them the butt of many jokes. However, their weakness is a PRI strategy to make Mexico look inoffensive to the rest of the world. They signed the Treaty of Bucareli so that they look more like diplomats than warmongers, building their reputation as peacemakers.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: While the country is dragged into economic and political upheaval in the Kabuki Effect, López Mateos' successors use the situation to get ahead and secure a nomination for the presidency.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: The CNC and CNOP are PRI puppets with unfocused and/or corrupt leadership, unable to seriously challenge the status quo. That said, the President must not underestimate them; the CNT has millions of members and some degree of peasant interests, and the CNOP is exceptionally large too. If they are not appeased enough, they might start undermining the PRI.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • While there are constitutional protections for free speech and press, they have been overruled by the laws under Camacho's administration during the Second World War. President Alemán went back on his promises to roll them back and, if anything, expanded their reach so that dissidents could be arrested under the pretense of preserving national stability.
  • Penal Article 145, also known as the Law of Social Dissolution, allows the government to arrest and prosecute people for inciting unrest. The law was originally supposed to counter the spread of fascism to Mexico, but the PRI has since broadened the definition of social dissolution so that any dissidence can be prosecuted as a crime.
• Meet the New Boss: Subverted. Much as López Mateos would like to find a successor with the same beliefs as him, the PRI's left wing has been destroyed and rendered it impossible to do so.
• Merchant City: Manzanillo is a quiet Pacific port town, which can be massively expanded under President Salinas. Thanks to government intervention, Manzanillo soon becomes a busy hub for Sphere and OFN products.
• Necessarily Evil: Most unions only join the CTM and help support the PRI because it's their only plausible chance of getting political representation. Combined with Mexico's rapid industrialization, this has helped the CTM grow so rapidly.
• Nepotism: A lot of PRI officials got their careers through nepotism rather than merit. Even more galling, they expect to be called "licenciado", which should be a title reserved for those who have a university degree.
• No Woman's Land: Downplayed. There is a pervasive social attitude that women need to marry and perform domestic duties, whether they want to or not. This discourages them from pursuing matters like higher education and, by extension, grants more privileges to men than women.
• Not So Invincible After All:
  • All legal trade unions are required to join the CTM, which is a particularly useful tool for keeping the workers compliant due to the growing economic shift towards manufacturing. However, the PRI cannot get arrogant about their hold, as the 1959 Railroad Strike demonstrated that the workers will fight back if they are not respected. The strikers were suppressed by López Mateos, but it's still a startling reminder that the CTM's hold is not absolute.
  • As prosperous as the Mexican economy is, it is reliant on the American and Sphere businesses to keep investing in the country. When economic catastrophe strikes Japan in the Yasuda Crisis, Mexico follows with the Kabuki Crisis, leading to many layoffs and bankruptcies that threaten to end the Mexican Miracle. On top of that, the disaster leads to civil unrest in the Nava Crisis, briefly challenging the PRI's dominance. Even though Mexico will survive the Kabuki Crisis, this event shows how fragile the economy can be, and forces López Mateos to reveal his successor so that the PRI can stay on top.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: At least when they were first formed, the DFS had the nominal task of hunting down Nazi and Soviet agents who threatened Mexico, but it was all a cover to eliminate the PRI's rivals and make Mexico a more attractive place for foreign investment.
• Obliviously Evil: Some PRI bureaucrats earnestly believe that the PRI is still representative of the Revolution's original goals, unaware of how far the system has truly strayed from the path.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: The CTM is supposed to represent the workers' interests, but it's useless at actually practicing this. There's so much red tape and bureaucratic interference in the CTM that it's nearly impossible to get a response from them, so they can offer no solutions to poor working conditions. Worse still, this inefficient design is intentional because the union bosses are chummy with the factory bosses, and the PRI is upholding the CTM because it's useful for exerting control over the workers and running out rival unions.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Though President Cárdenas repealed the harsh apartheid-like laws against Native Mexicans, the group has remained apprehensive of the government, still remembering the brutal times they brutally suppressed Yaqui separatist movements, and unwilling to forgive them so easily.
• Open Secret: It's unsaid but well-known that the DFS employs torture against suspected dissidents.
• Opportunistic Bastard: The DFS started as a smaller security agency, but they accumulated more power by improvisation, currying favor with the URI when possible. They first expanded their power in the last few months of Alemán's presidency, when they foiled Miguel Henríquez Guzmán's attempt to secure the 1952 PRI candidacy. They briefly fell out of favor during Cortines' administration, but then came back with a vengeance when they helped López Mateos' crackdown on the 1959 railway strikes.
• Paper Tiger: Mexico's armed forces are largely underfunded and ill-equipped because of the country's policy of unarmed neutrality, making them largely ignored in the political arena. The armed forces used to be a sector that made up the country's corporatist system when it was established in 1938, but it was removed during Camacho's presidency.
• Playing Both Sides:
  • Ever since Alemán's presidency, Mexico has appealed to both Japan and America, inviting foreign investments and fomenting competition between the two in Mexico's favor. However, López Mateos' successors may change this.
  • This trope is central to the Mexican Miracle, a phenomenon of rapid economic growth and rising living standards. This golden era is reliant on Mexico balancing the interests of American and Sphere investors, on top of protecting their native investors. If not properly managed, the Mexican Miracle may end.
• Realpolitik: The Alemanistas are generally unscrupulous when it comes to diplomacy. They favor commercial ties with the United States but also think the Sphere is Mexico's best potential trading partner, considering Manchuria and Guangdong to be role models. Just as dubiously, they even consider reopening relations with Italy and Iberia, countering the PRI's traditional anti-fascist foreign policy.
• Regime Change: Mexico is one of the Caribbean Legion's backers in the Puerto Plata invasion and attempts to overthrow Trujillo, having a long history of enmity with the Dominican regime and doing everything possible to contain his influence.
• Repressive, but Efficient: The DFS spies on and tortures dissidents who don't fall in line with the PRI, but this is why they are so efficient at keeping the PRI in power.
• Rule of Symbolism: The PRI is repeatedly called a Leviathan, controlling Mexico with an iron fist and interacting with the country's interest groups.
• Secret Police: The Federal Directorate of Security (DFS) is a de-facto secret police force used by the PRI, under the authority of the Secretary of the Interior. Formed in 1947, the DFS grew during the 1950s and helped crack down on dissent throughout the country, having no practical oversight by the government, to a point that the DFS could challenge them if a conflict arose.
• Shocking Defeat Legacy: Downplayed. The PRI technically won the 1952 Mexican general election, but it was by a much thinner margin than they expected, due to the rising opposition from other parties and even within their organization. Alarmed by the looming setback, Alemán spent his last few months in office entrenching the PRI, giving the President sole authority to choose their successor and banning all but four political parties so the PRI could maintain absolute control over Congress.
• Snowballing Threat: The Kabuki Effect, caused by the Yasuda Crisis, leads to a series of layoffs and bankruptcies, which sparks protests from the victims. The longer the protests last, the less likely the government can effectively respond before irreparable damage is dealt to the economy.
• Succession Crisis: As President López Mateos' term comes to an end, many backroom deals are made as the three potential successors jockey for influence within the PRI and win the approval of López Mateos, backed by foreign actors putting their thumb on the scales for their preferred candidate. In the 1940s and early 1950s, the successor used to be chosen by genuine intra-party discussions, but the recent schisms mean that the successor is now solely chosen by the current President, and the rest of the party must conform to it, a precedent established by Alemán. The speculation of who could be the successor is represented with a political caricature titled "El Tapado", a hooded illusive figure. In-game, the decision-making behind identifying the figure is represented through the president's notebook, where traits are written down as foreign diplomacy and the national focus tree progresses. In the end, whichever candidate has the greatest opinion will secure the position.
• Team Switzerland:
  • Mexico's foreign policy follows the Estrada Doctrine, which is about respecting the sovereignty of other nations and refusing to interfere in their affairs. For this reason, Mexico has a reputation of being a neutral country, though Ordaz and Salinas can change this by leaning towards the United States and Japan, respectively.
  • While OTL Mexico joined the Allies in May 1942, TNO Mexico stayed neutral throughout the entire conflict and was able to develop stronger economic ties with Japan after the war. Under President López Mateos, Mexico has continued following the Estrada Doctrine of non-interference in foreign nations and diplomatic neutrality based on upholding self-determination globally. As such, a policy of strict neutrality between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan is followed, and, depending on who succeeds him, Mexico might continue its geopolitical neutrality, move closer towards the OFN, or drift towards the Sphere. The only moral stand they take in diplomacy is not aligning with fascists.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • Once hostile to private enterprise, the Cold War and rising internal demands drove the PRI to start attracting foreign investments, which would drive an economic boom and notable growth in private enterprises. However, many of the left deride this as a return to the Porfiriato, and dealing with the discontent is a major focus for each President.
  • The Cardenistas are a powerful force within the PRI because of their popularity and many post-Cárdenas Presidents have had to appease them, but they aren't as dangerous as they could be because they lack a leader to give them strong direction.
  • Mexico is somewhat hesitant to fully support the Caribbean Legion because some infamous communists are working with the group. However, Cuba's support of them and their position to unite anti-fascist rebels under one banner means they are the best shot to overthrow Trujillo.
• Third-Party Peacekeeper: In the Aleutians Crisis, the Mexican government is caught between America and Japan's nuclear standoff. This requires López Mateos to leverage his neutrality and act as a mediator to carefully negotiate and de-escalate the crisis before it gets hot.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Mexico is quite friendly to Cuba, sharing many of the same foreign policies. However, if Castro becomes a dictator, he starts taking inspiration from the PRI to model his regime, inviting Cárdenas as an advisor to become the new caudillo of Cuba.
• Vast Bureaucracy: The PRI is aptly called a Leviathan because its tendrils permeate every facet of Mexican society. The workers, peasants, and industrialists are all represented by the PRI-aligned organization: the CTM, the CNC, and the CNOP, respectively. The intellectuals are governed by the PRI party bureaucrats, and the DFS performs clandestine activities to ensure everyone is kept in line. The President will need to navigate this complex system and manage the power, loyalty, and corruption of these groups to maintain the PRI's hold over the country.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Despite their oppressive policies, the PRI has built up Mexico's image as a rapidly developing and modernizing nation, thanks to their many infrastructure projects and strong economic policies. Their adherence to the Estrada Doctrine also means they are careful to avoid taking sides in geopolitics, portraying themselves as an unbiased, neutral country.
• Villainous Legacy: Enforced. After all the schisms and factionalism of the 1940s and 50s, it is now a tradition for the sitting President to choose their successor, who will rule for the next six years. Given the PRI's utter dominance of the electoral system, it practically allows the President to define the immediate future of Mexico after they leave office, even if they will need to convince the rest of the party to permit a smooth transition of power.
• War Refugees: Near the city of León, a sizable population of Polish refugees lives in a hacienda called Santa Rosa, having been cast out by both the Nazis and the Soviets during World War II.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Beneath their facade of unity, the party bureaucracy is plagued with factionalism and kleptocracy, which often hinders their ability to commit to bold action.
• A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Of the most powerful corporations: the CTM represents the workers, the CNC represents the peasants, and the CNOP represents anyone who doesn't fit into the two aforementioned categories. These corporations are supposed to represent millions of members and constitute every legal union in Mexico, but they're actually PRI allies who enforce the reigning dictatorship and attack anyone who doesn't fold into their ranks.
• Yes-Man:
  • The National Peasant Confederation (CNC) is the second largest corporation in Mexico, cobbled together by Cárdenas from the few local agrarian leagues that were still left after the Mexican Revolution and other sectors. Thus, the CNC is heavily subjugated to political interests by the PRI and cannot represent the peasants politically. It also doesn't help that they don't have a clear leader and what leaders they do have are corrupt.
  • The National Confederation of Popular Organization (CNOP) is the third most powerful Mexican corporation, created in 1943 during Camacho's term to expand the PRI's power and be a less ideological counterweight to the, at the time, socialist CTM. Being a direct part of the PRI and so divided across dozens of professions, the CNOP's obedience to the party is incredibly strong, and cannot do anything of their accord, like allowing strikes.

Role: President of Mexico^note 

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• Affably Evil: López Mateos is a very personable President, as he makes frequent public tours and sometimes gives the people credit for making his presidency such a success. He exudes lots of optimism in Mexico's future, and numerous events show that his welfare for the poor is rooted in genuine concern for their well-being. And, if you're one of his subordinates and on his good side, he'll give you his compliments for the hard work you put in. He's so charismatic that it's easy to forget that López Mateos is also an oppressive dictator who employs police brutality and illiberal practices to shut the PRI's enemies down.
• Affluent Ascetic: Unlike every other PRI President, López Mateos doesn't live in Los Pinos, but in his own home in San Jerónimo.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Despite the terrible things he's done in his presidency, there is an element of tragedy about López Mateos' health deteriorating in his post-presidency and being informed that he only has a few more years to live. For all he's accomplished, López Mateos is still a man, prone to the same vulnerabilities and health failures as anyone else. It's especially woeful if Ordaz is the President, as the two old friends recognize that they don't have much time left with each other, and Ordaz feels lost without López Mateos by his side.
• The Apprentice: As the Secretary of Public Education in 1943, López Mateos became befriended and became a mentee to Isidro Fabela, the then-Governor of the State of Mexico. This allowed López Mateos to serve in multiple positions before succeeding Fabela in the Senate.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • Downplayed in Ordaz's path. López Mateos is ecstatic about being put in charge of the Olympic Committee, expressing his gratitude to Ordaz. But when López Mateos is directed to his desk and sees the stack of papers and files, López Mateos gets a little intimidated by how much is on his plate.
  • He handpicks his successor, but he starts getting doubts upon seeing some of their less well-thought policies:
    • For Ordaz, López Mateos is astounded when Campos Salas suggests setting the Olympic torch relay through Mexico's smokestacks, which would expose the industrial pollution and poverty that still plagues the country. He realizes that it might not have been a great idea to have named Ordaz his successor, given his habit of valuing loyalty over competency.
    • For Salinas, Mexico invites Guangdong's Big Five to the Three Pearls Electronics Exposition, where they can boast of their latest inventions. This disturbs López Mateos because it looks like Mexico is playing too nice with the Sphere and risks becoming a Japanese puppet. Depending on the player's choice, he might even question if he picked the right man for the presidency.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: In 1929, he supported José Vasconcelos' presidential bid, and feared for his life when Pascual Ortiz Rubio won the election and conducted a campaign of repression against Vasconcelos' allies. López Mateos even lost a dear friend, Germán del Campo, to these crackdowns. Fast forward over three decades later, and López Mateos is ruling exactly like Ortiz Rubio, slaughtering the railway strikers in 1959 and assassinating Jaramillo. López Mateos is self-aware of how much he's fallen and feels guilt-ridden about it.
• Beneath the Mask:
  • Behind all his charms and diligent work ethic, López Mateos is scared of leading Mexico to its doom. In López Mateos' mind, his greatest enemy is his own inadequacies and he's desperate to avert them.
  • Salinas insists on blaming a Caribbean Legion defeat on the Americans, but López Mateos privately thinks that he bears responsibility for organizing the invasion in the first place and getting thousands of young men killed for nothing.
  • For as much respect as he gets, López Mateos is insecure about the future of his vision for Mexico. As old allies like Isidro Fabel pass away, López Mateos notes the changing political landscape of Mexico, which may leave his plans in the dust. He even wonders if there will be enough people to care about his inevitable demise to bury him.
• Boring, but Practical: López Mateos' final three years in office have a relatively grounded objective: keep the economy growing through industrialization and foreign trade deals. It's not flashy, but it keeps Mexico strong, the masses content, and the PRI in power.
• Broken Ace: On the surface, López Mateos looks like a paragon to the PRI. He's dashingly handsome, well-versed in high culture, charismatic, and a wise leader who pushes a lot of welfare programs for the disadvantaged. However, this image hides a lot of López Mateos' self-doubt and guilt over the atrocities he's committed in his presidency, such as his crackdown of the 1959 Railway Strike and the assassination of Jaramillo.
• Broken Pedestal: If López Mateos visits Baja California on the American tour, the Mexican migrant workers are hopeful that he can advocate for protections against the labor abuse they regularly face. But López Mateos can dodge this issue and leave for the sake of better investment deals with the American businessmen, disappointing the migrants with this betrayal. Even Mexico's peasants and workers are outraged by this, requiring Ordaz to calm them down.
• The Casanova: López Mateos cheats on his wife and it's implied that he's done so multiple times because he has a "favorite" mistress. Given his years of adultery, he tells Ordaz that he knows a lot about women.
• The Chains of Commanding: To him, every day spent being President is a long day. He has to sit up straight, smile for the cameras, and worry about what the press and people are going to think of him. On the rare occasions that nobody is watching him, López Mateos slumps down and enjoys the peace. The stress he endures on the job will also affect his post-presidential life, where lower stress means he can focus on the minutiae of the Olympic preparations
• The Charmer: His friendly grin is iconic throughout Mexico and his stage presence is very charismatic. Through appeals to the common man, López Mateos has cultivated a good reputation as a hard-working and benevolent leader, enough to make people forget about the repression they face from the PRI. Even some labor strikers can't resist his magnetism.
• The Determinator: His post-presidential life is dedicated to working on the 1968 Olympics preparations. Even as age starts to slow him down, he refuses to give up because he thinks that the Olympics is the most important work of his life.
• Dirty Coward: When he was younger, López Mateos hid during the Cristero War because he didn't want to risk his life fighting the Cristeros. He's still deeply ashamed of this and guiltily cites his cowardice as a reason why he couldn't stop the insurgencies breaking out against his successor.
• Do Not Go Gentle: As his health fails in the post-presidency, López Mateos talks about reducing his role in politics, but he does not give up on working in the Olympic Organizing Committee. If he's going to die soon, he wants to give something to the people of Mexico before he goes.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Upon learning of the Caribbean Legion's defeat in the Puerto Plata invasion, López Mateos sits in his office to down shots of tequila. When Salinas knocks on his door to discuss pivoting to Japanese diplomacy, the President then takes to drinking the sake that his Secretary has brought with him.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Of all the Governors he meets, López Mateos dislikes Leopoldo Sánchez Celis, who tends to play dumb whenever the President gives him a demand. López Mateos knows that he's dishonestly exaggerating his ignorance of the President's wishes and considers it disrespectful to his title.
• Enemy Mine: Subverted in the ceasefire with Balaguer. In the midst of writing letters of his officials, López Mateos considers writing to Cárdenas. Despite their enmity, López Mateos wants to convince Cárdenas to support the Legion on the basis that they want to carry out a revolution against the Trujillist regime, but he ultimately trashes the letter and reasons that it's not worth the effort to reconcile their differences.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Whatever the terrible things he committed during his presidency, he's still loved by his wife, Eva Sámano. In López Mateos's final year, Eva gifts him a photo of his younger self.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Isidro Fabela is his respected mentor. When Fabela passes away and is buried in a coffin, López Mateos is devastated.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • López Mateos can be a ruthless leader, but he only engages in oppression if he has to. He has little taste for senseless violence and, though there is a pragmatic benefit to keeping a cool head, some of López Mateos' wording suggests that he is genuinely averse to unnecessary carnage.
  • Nuclear arms are off the table for López Mateos. Not only does he help defuse the Aleutians Crisis, but one of his last acts as President is to sign the Declaration for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponry in Mexico, a symbolic gesture that Latin America must commit to nuclear non-proliferation.
  • In foreign policy, López Mateos is against meddling in other countries' domestic affairs. He espouses the Estrada Doctrine, which is about promoting self-determination and non-intervention.
  • López Mateos recognizes that all empires are built off of oppression over other peoples, but even he is disturbed by Japan's colonization of Korea, potentially visiting Seoul (now known as Keijō) and feeling unwell by Japan's treatment of the city's cultural sights and native inhabitants.
  • When given the chance to visit Manchuria or Guangdong after partnering with Japan, López Mateos sarcastically calls them "the Jewels of the Pan-Asian experiment" in disapproval of their inhumane living conditions.
  • The Bracero program is mutually beneficial for the United States and Mexico, as the former gets cheap labor and the latter economically profits from this system. However, López Mateos still has qualms with it, abhorring the foreign exploitation of Mexican labor.
  • He's a little disturbed by Salinas' extremely technocratic ideas. Even if he sides with his solution to the Kabuki Crisis, López Mateos removes some of the more "problematic" elements of the proposal.
  • President Salinas invites Guangdong's five corporations to come to Mexico and show some of their latest goods at the Three Pearls Electronics Exposition. López Mateos walks through and even pre-orders a Sony color television, but he can't shake a nagging disturbance that the PRI is cozying up to Japanese colonialists and giving up their autonomy.
• Evil Virtues: He's incredibly diligent in his work and is admired for it. During his presidency, López Mateos did a lot of work to modernize Mexico and help save the world by navigating the Aleutians Crisis, even if that also means running an oppressive regime that arrests and tortures dissidents.
• Feeling Their Age:
  • Before he begins the final year of his presidency, López Mateos looks at a picture of himself from a decade ago and realizes how old he's become. Back then, he had fewer wrinkles, a hairline that hadn't receded yet, and a fiery ambition to his eyes. Now, López Mateos feels that he's lost that spirit and can't give the same rousing speeches he used to; he needs a successor.
  • López Mateos looks especially awful if he suffers lots of stress. After leaving office, he tries to lead to Olympic preparations, but López Mateos looks disorganized and unfocused. When Ordaz meets him, López Mateos is covered with red blotches and his trademark smile isn't as fantastic as it used to look.
  • In the final general epilogue event, López Mateos has become so feeble with age that he's on doctor's orders to practice walking and control his hobbling. However, he does get invigorated when he sees a mural of Mexico's prosperity, inspiring him to pick up the pace and keep working through the final years of his life.
• Fictional Document: In the "El Tapado" mechanic, López Mateos keeps a private notepad to record his thoughts and opinions of the three people who can succeed him. Throughout the game, new events will be recorded and López Mateos' feelings will change accordingly, until someone can be crowned "El Tapado" and made his successor.
• Functional Addict: While the President of Mexico, López Mateos is highly dependent on painkillers for headaches, a condition from when he was nearly assassinated for supporting Vasconcelos. Eventually, the migraines get so unbearable that López Mateos has no choice but to seek out a successor.
• Graceful Loser: Subverted if López Mateos fails to convince Japan to support his Olympics bid. In Ino's office, he puts up an understanding front that Japan has too many other allies to accommodate and suggests that they continue the discussion tomorrow. But once he leaves the office, he ignores the press outside and calls Salinas to berate him for his failure.
• Headache of Doom: López Mateos is regularly afflicted with terrible migraines. It also isn't helped by the responsibilities of being President, where his headaches swell during times of extreme distress. It's a sign of his failing health and it starts impacting his work after the Nava Crisis is resolved, making it harder for him to read or not get overwhelmed; this confirms that someone needs to succeed him soon. Notably, the headaches temporarily go away if he ends his presidency on a high note.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He and Ordaz are extremely close friends. López Mateos calls Ordaz one of his most dependable allies and, before the Aleutians Crisis, it was practically foregone that Ordaz would be his successor. In turn, Ordaz regards López Mateos as his last living true friend and one of the few people he treats consistently well.
• Hidden Depths:
  • If there is anything he misses from his former days as a lowly bureaucrat, it's the anonymity. As President, he feels cameras and reporters watching his every move, putting him on high alert whenever he goes out in public. He gets a chance to experience this again if he visits Guangdong and feels some measure of satisfaction from it.
  • López Mateos appreciates American cuisine. He can gobble a meal from Whataburger when visiting the United States and regularly buys cola from a discreet grocery store in the Zócalo.
• Honor Before Reason: If Ramfis wins the Dominican Civil War, López Mateos orders to evacuate as many Dominican dissidents as possible. Even though this risks Mexican ships being attacked by the Trujillists, López Mateos feels too personally responsible for this failure to not try rescuing the survivors.
• Hypocrite: He preaches a lot about social justice, even though a lot of his actions speak otherwise, such as using police brutality to arrest and torture dissidents. In a particularly striking example, López Mateos will pity the people of Oaxaca and think about ways to relieve their poverty, yet also allow a mining company to deport a village for an operation rather than hire the original inhabitants.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Upon learning of the Caribbean Legion's potential defeat, López Mateos drinks shots of tequila to cope, following by him drinking sake with Salinas.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Uniquely in Madrazo's path, López Mateos suffers coughing fits as his post-presidential health deteriorates and he lies in a hospital bed.
• Internal Reformist:
  • He was Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare for Ruiz Cortines' presidency, overseeing extensive reforms to welfare and social security. The success of these policies secured his nomination to the presidency.
  • López Mateos' presidency is marked by various changes such as land reform, expansions of education and healthcare, and the nationalization of the electrical industry.
• The Last Dance: López Mateos doesn't have that many years left after the presidency, but he commits himself to the 1968 Olympics preparations. He says that this will be his swan song and final gift to the Mexican people before he becomes too feeble.
• Magnum Opus:
  • The development of Melchor Ocampo into a port town is one of López Mateos' crowning presidential achievements, giving Mexico trade access to the Pacific and tapping into the Sphere's markets. Sometimes, he'll take a day to himself to personally inspect its construction because he's that proud of it.
  • In the final year of his presidency, López Mateos invites as many Latin American countries as he can to REUPRAL, a conference that will denuclearize Latin America. It's a crazy proposal, but López Mateos considers it the seminal piece of his foreign policy.
  • López Mateos can get involved in the Carolina Hostage Crisis and peacefully convince the rioters to release their prisoners. Until his dying day, he regards this as one of his finest achievements, even compared to everything else he's accomplished.
• Meet the New Boss: Zig-Zagged. López Mateos represents a return of the left wing of the PRI and passes economic policies reminiscent of Cárdenas' administration, but he still upholds the PRI's repression, crushing strikes in 1958 and 1959, and empowering the CTM. Even if he has followed much of the 1957 Cardenista manifesto, he's dodged their most dramatic demands of reform to the party and corporatist system.
• Multiple-Choice Past: His past is shrouded in mystery, with López Mateos either being born in Mexico City or a bastard from Guatemala who masquerades as a Mexican to further his political career. Obviously, the latter story is popular among his critics.
• Neutrality Backlash: During the Aleutians Crisis, López Mateos tries to firmly stick to Mexico's neutral foreign policy and proposes to hear out the concerns of both parties with a third-party investigation. However, this draws ire from Nixon, who believe the spy plane is sufficient proof of Japanese aggression. As Ordaz reflects, López Mateos is amplifying the conflict's risk by treating the opposing claims as equally legitimate.
• Neutral No Longer: The possible responses to the Kabuki Crisis can generally be divided into two camps. Ordaz, Madrazo, and the PRI old guard want to maintain the status quo of investments into the countryside and cut the "weaker" parts of the budget, while Salinas and the technocrats want to radically restructure the entire economy. For a while, López Mateos tries to keep both sides happy, but he'll eventually have to pick a strategy, which will depend on who has his favor.
• Not Afraid to Die: Inevitably, López Mateos will die at some point in the 1960s, but he can calmly resign to this fact if he lived relatively stress-free. He's reminded to be proud of everything he's accomplished rather than fret over his mortality.
• Not So Above It All: López Mateos has to maintain a dignified appearance in his potential visit to Bali, but the coast at Bali Beach Hotel is so enticing that he's seriously tempted to run into the water. However, he restrains himself so that he can make an esteemed appearance before Sukarno.
• Old Friend: López Mateos is old friends with Lyndon B. Johnson from the United States and can visit him, asking for his cooperation with John F. Kennedy to settle the Chamizal dispute against a stubborn Nixon.
• Only Friend: Ordaz considers him to be his last friend, which is why it hits him particularly hard when he finds out that López Mateos is dying.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • He and Ordaz have argued fiercely with each other multiple times in the past, but they were always good-natured and the two walked away without any hard feelings. But Ordaz's reckless solution to the Aleutians Crisis is such a huge breach of trust that López Mateos can't forgive him easily for that, treating him coldly for the majority of his remaining term.
  • To show how much trouble Mexico is in during the Kabuki Crisis, López Mateos sits with a scowl in his office chair, contrary to his usual charisma.
  • As Japanese businesses close from the Kabuki Effect, López Mateos can reveal that he's not going to either bail them out or liquidate them, letting the free market decide their fate. The curiosities of Ordaz and Madrazo are piqued by this because López Mateos is usually not one to abandon a situation he can potentially exploit.
  • His presidency's prized achievement is getting the 1968 Olympics hosted in Mexico City. When the International Olympic Committee holds a vote on the host city, López Mateos is so nervous that it's overriding his traditional headaches, until he gets confirmation that his country has won the vote.
• Passing the Torch: With every day he ages, López Mateos knows that he'll have to step down before his physical weaknesses catch up to him. Thus, he'll endorse Ordaz, Salinas, or Madrazo to succeed him. Who he picks will depend on who he has the highest opinion of, which is tracked in the "El Tapado" mechanic.
• Pet the Dog:
  • López Mateos feels pride in his effort to modernize the education system, particularly with the National Commission of Free Textbooks. He goes out of his way to visit a newly renovated school in Guanajuato, traversing the steep streets before taking a tour. Seeing kids with new textbooks on the Mexican Revolution pleases him, as he grew up with a much worse education in Mexico City and only recently renovated it with the National Commission of Free Textbooks.
  • Healthcare is a focus of the López Mateos' administration. New hospitals are built in the countryside and government-provided childcare is extended to help vulnerable mothers. These politics are intended to combat some of the worst diseases that plague Mexico, like tuberculosis and polio.
  • López Mateos offers land reforms, which can lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty.
  • If he sides with the Sphere, he's given a tour through Bali by a guide who struggles to speak Spanish and loves to crack lame jokes. At first, López Mateos is annoyed by her mannerisms, but slowly starts to appreciate her levity and starts genuinely laughing at her remarks. After years of surrounding himself with no-nonsense men, he's glad to meet someone who can keep a light atmosphere.
  • In his potential visit to Baja California, López Mateos can hear about the struggles of Mexican-American laborers, who ask if he's going to talk about the unjust conditions they are put through. Even though it will ruin his investment talks with the San Diego businessmen, López Mateos can oblige and agree to share their struggles to the people in Washington D.C.
  • López Mateos is disgusted by the squalor he sees in Oaxaca. He likes that his administration is putting more children to school than on the streets, but he still thinks that not enough is being done to uplift this place. He makes a mental note that more work needs to be done on this front.
  • He extends his congratulations to Román for deposing Trujillo and negotiating with the Caribbean Legion, giving him a hug in celebration of their shared victory.
  • His final presidential year involves signing the reform of Article 123 of the Mexican Constitution. This means all companies will have a profit-sharing program, increasing all salaries by 10-15%.
  • If he gets involved in the Carolina Hostage Crisis and defuses the situation, López Mateos will let the students go to Cuba and help Castro's regime rather than face punishment back in Mexico. López Mateos tells Echeverría that they will be much better suited there than in a Mexican autonomous university.
  • A peasant helped his presidency's first land reforms and wrote a letter thanking him for not only supporting her farm but also giving her the money to afford an education for her children. Touched, López Mateos keeps her letter on his desk.
  • In Ordaz's presidency, López Mateos can be asked to not bring Eva to a PRI banquet because of her dispute with Ordaz's spouse. López Mateos accepts and has a good time at the party, telling Ordaz that they shouldn't be troubled by their wives' quarrel. Even if López Mateos' wife comes and acts coldly to Guadalupe, he'll apologize to Ordaz on her behalf.
• Properly Paranoid: If the Caribbean Legion is defeated, López Mateos rightfully fears that he'll be assassinated by Trujillo, given the Dominican dictator's history of killing people like Betancourt.
• Rags to Riches: López Mateos grew up in poverty, with a widowed mother and an unprestigious job that barely made ends meet during the Mexican Revolution. Decades later, he is the President of Mexico.
• Red Baron:
  • López Mateos' expansion of welfare, education, and infrastructure during his term earned him the nickname "The Great Human President".
  • The first three years of his administration were dedicated to visiting foreign countries and convincing them to invest in Mexico, earning him the nickname "López Paseos" or "López Travels".
• Repressive, but Efficient: When he became President in 1958, López Mateos had two goals in mind: restore the PRI's legitimacy and become one of Mexico's most beloved figures. By 1964, he achieves both of these, even more successfully than he initially imagined. Through a combination of appealing social reforms, pragmatism, and police suppression, López Mateos cements the PRI's hold over the country and inspires widespread enthusiasm for the so-called Revolution. Ultimately, many Mexicans look up to López Mateos, despite their limited personal freedoms.
• Science Is Good: López Mateos doesn't like how advanced rocketry has been exploited to create weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms. He claims that this technology is better suited for space exploration, so he signs the creation of the National Commission of Outer Space, dedicated to at least launching a satellite.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
  • If he partners with the United States, López Mateos can abolish the Bracero program and American exploitation of Mexican immigrants who have come for work. This policy benefits the Mexican economy, but López Mateos states that he cannot tolerate this abusive system any longer.
  • In the same pro-America route, López Mateos can visit Baja California and promise the Mexican-American migrant workers that their exploitation will be called out to the politicians. This will sabotage his plan to meet with San Diego businessmen and convince them to invest in Mexico, but López Mateos believes that this is the most moral decision he can make here. If he does so, his approval ratings among the migrants will skyrocket, while the American and Mexican politicians will be irritated by his rhetoric.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: When the PNR won the 1929 elections, they targeted many of Vasconcelos' supporters, including López Mateos. Fearing for his life, López Mateos fled to Guatemala and would only return to Mexico to graduate as a lawyer.
• The Social Expert: Ever since his youth, López Mateos demonstrated great oratory and social skills, enabling his connections to powerful figures. This has been useful in his career in the PRI, as his network helped him ascend to the presidency.
• Team Switzerland: López Mateos thinks that Mexico is above war and foreign intervention, refusing to align with either the United States or Japan. Usually, the most he'll do for either the United States or Japan is make a speech affirming Mexico's neutrality and slightly mend relations between both sides.
• Villainous Friendship:
  • López Mateos is remarkably chummy with Ordaz, considering him a friend and dependable ally in the political arena. The Aleutians Crisis can put a damper on this friendship, but Ordaz can recover from this and restore their broken relationship.
  • He and Ruiz Cortines worked together during the latter's presidential term, where they became so chummy that Ruiz Cortines named him his successor.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Despite presiding over a dictatorial, dominant-party state, López Mateos is widely praised for his role in modernizing Mexico and his charm. By the time he leaves office, López Mateos is beloved by nearly everyone, even in the scenario where the PRI isn't eager to support his endorsed successor.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He considers Ordaz to be his oldest and most dependable ally, despite the many times they've argued with each other.
• Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: López Mateos only released Nava from prison when mass protests flared up against his arrest, yet expects Nava to be grateful for this clemency. When Nava starts another protest against the 1961 gubernatorial election of San Luis Potosí, López Mateos expresses irritation at his so-called lack of gratitude.
• We Used to Be Friends: Downplayed. Before the game start, López Mateos thought the world of Ordaz and treated him as his most trusted ally. But when a desperate Ordaz defuses the Aleutians Crisis himself, López Mateos is furious at his insubordination, which broke Mexico's image as a neutral arbiter and risked nuclear war.
• What's Up, King Dude?: His good publicity can partially be attributed to the public tours he does, paying a visit to the people who look up to him, from the Mexican-American communities of California to the construction workers of his infrastructure projects. Most civilians who meet him have never seen a President face-to-face and likely never will again, making these occasions special.
• What You Are in the Dark: López Mateos forcefully put down the strikes of 1959 and ordered the assassination of Jaramillo to preserve the PRI's power. However, he feels remorseful for what he's done, as he never wanted to resort to such atrocities. When he's by himself and looks at a puddle of wine, he flashes back to all the people he's killed and prays.
• Wicked Cultured: López Mateos has an appreciation for Japanese media and can import them into Mexico if he partners with the Sphere.
• Worthy Opponent: He's debated Madrazo several times in the past, but the latter still regards López Mateos with a lot of respect. Madrazo owes a lot of his political views to López Mateos and values him as an ally and President.
• Your Days Are Numbered: López Mateos's health deteriorates after retiring from the presidency, and his migraines get worse. Eventually, he collapses from seven brain aneurysms and is told by the doctor that he won't make it past the decade.

Role: Secretary of the Interior^note  (López Mateos cabinet), President of Mexico^note  (1964 election), Head of the Department of the Federal District (Salinas cabinet), Ambassador of Mexico to the United States of America (Madrazo cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• Alas, Poor Villain: He does a lot of terrible things throughout his career, but a consistent redeeming quality of his is his friendship with López Mateos. When Ordaz becomes President and learns that López Mateos is destined to die within the decade, he's distraught that he'll soon lose his last living friend. Stressful as politics are, Ordaz could at least count on his loved ones for comfort, but now they're all being picked off one by one and he's left to wallow in his tragic loneliness.
• Allohistorical Allusion: Ordaz's management of the Aleutians Crisis and the subsequent wedge with López Mateos is partially based on how the former handled the OTL Cuban Missile Crisis. However, the break between López Mateos and Ordaz is exaggerated in TNOTL to give Salinas and Madrazo a chance at becoming President; otherwise, López Mateos would pick Ordaz without hesitation.
• Appeal to Tradition: During Ordaz's inauguration speech, he pledges to uphold the constitution and continue the status quo, which he deems better for the Mexican people than the supposed radicalness and lawlessness he's fighting against.
• Bait the Dog: In his meeting with the AMM, Ordaz seems sympathetic to their grievances against the healthcare system, casting a possibility that the Doctors' Strike can be resolved peacefully. But his opinions of their actions start seeping into his rhetoric, where he claims that the movement is committing crimes in their demonstrations. This leads to a two-hour back-and-forth, where Ordaz alternates between hearing out their complaints and denouncing them. In the end, Ordaz is bound to either crush them or sideline them, leaving the strikers with nothing.
• Beneath the Mask:
  • Ordaz's biggest fear is not measuring up to the legacy of López Mateos. He's desperate to prove himself better than his predecessor and that everything he's done to reach the presidency will not be in vain.
  • In some moments, Ordaz is aware that he overreacts to crises, acknowledging that his response to the Madera raid was too excessive. He wants to be more reasonable, but old habits die hard and the epiphany rarely sticks for the long term.
• Broken Pedestal: Manautou has a lot of respect for him and works in his presidential cabinet. However, when Ordaz overreacts to the Madera raid with a brutal round of suppression, Manautou realizes that he's a lot more fragile than he realized and vows to not let an episode like that happen again.
• Can't Take Criticism: Ordaz already had pretty thin skin before his presidency, but it gets worse after the GPG's raid on Madera. Paranoid that other countries are secretly backing his enemies, Ordaz declares that anyone who criticizes him or the PRI is a subversive who must be eradicated. He pushes an agenda to Echeverría and Barragán that they must destroy all traces of defiance without mercy, specifically emphasizing the "no mercy" part.
• The Chains of Commanding: Being President is a tiring job for Ordaz. He'll be bombarded with reporters and sycophantic applause; forced to deal with temporary allies who plot to betray him; and pressured by other people to meet his demands.
• Contempt Crossfire: Informed of an imminent nuclear exchange from LITEMPO and FBI agents, Ordaz goes rogue and negotiates an end to the Aleutians Crisis without López Mateos' knowledge. However, neither the United States nor Japan are satisfied with the result. Ordaz has the United States release the captured Japanese pilot in exchange for an apology, but the United States is angry when they find out that López Mateos can't force Japan to meet their end of the deal. Japan is even more pissed because both fleets are being forced to withdraw, preventing an investigation into the American demilitarization of the Aleutians and making it look like Mexico is letting the United States get away with whatever they want. Japan is barely appeased through talks with Baurraud and Salinas, and a promise by López Mateos to give a spy exchange in their favor.
• Cruelty Is the Only Option: Ordaz is the only President who cannot compromise with the Doctors' Strike at all. He must either crack down on them or drive them into irrelevance in the media.
• Dragon Ascendant: Despite their disagreements with each other, Ordaz is López Mateos' Secretary of the Interior, who capably helps the President keep the PRI united and carry out his dirty work with the DFS, and his most likely successor.
• Drink-Based Characterization: He likes his coffee black, just like how he has little patience for frivolities. On a metaphorical note, Ordaz wants the coffee to "serve" him and not the other way around, befitting his bullheaded personality.
• Enemy Mine: Ordaz disdains Madrazo's idealism, thinking it's ridiculous at best and a mental illness at worst. But he will work with Madrazo during the Kabuki Crisis, out of mutual opposition to Salinas.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Ordaz cherishes his wife, Guadalupe Borja, frequently discussing his work with her and calling her "dear".
  • He also has a son, Alfredo, who still lives in his household.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Ordaz disdains fascism, and part of the reason why he forges closer ties with the United States is because of their stringent anti-fascist foreign policy.
  • When President Salinas sets up the Madera attack and blames Echeverría for it, Ordaz is repulsed and considers this a treasonous disgrace to what the PRI stands for. Thus, he conspires with del Rosal to recruit allies and set up a failsafe, in case Salinas tries to take over the party.
  • He feels guilty about being envious of President Madrazo. As much as he wants to be President himself, he knows that begrudging Madrazo is a childish feeling.
• Fatal Flaw: Impulsiveness. Ordaz runs a lot on emotion, and can't keep a cool head when he needs to. If he's in a high-stress situation, he'll flinch and take a risky move that threatens to put himself in worse straits. If he's personally offended by someone, he'll begrudge them for the rest of his life and go out of his way to antagonize them, even when it would be more beneficial to mend bridges with them. If he's facing opposition from strikers and other dissidents, he'll fly off the handle and suppress them as harshly as he can.
• Fire-Forged Friends: He initially considers Madrazo to be a naive idealist, until they handle several crises together in López Mateos' presidency, and develops a newfound respect for Madrazo.
• The Gloves Come Off:
  • Frustrated by the labor strikes in his presidency, Ordaz loses patience when they reject his first offer of clemency and cracks down on them hard. He specifically tells Velázquez that they need to deploy strict suppressive measures, especially if they want to get a hold over the Doctors' Strike.
  • Ordaz reaches a new level of brutality after the Madera raid, where he starts authorizing increasingly harsh punishments against dissidence. He believes that anyone who speaks ill of him is a traitor and must be brutally crushed without any restraint.
• Gonk: Ordaz is hideously ugly and frequently mocked for that fact. His own mother called him "her little ugly donkey", and some are exasperated that he can charm anyone with his "bonobo face".
• Happily Married: His marriage is a lot more stable and fulfilling compared to López Mateos' adultery.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: They're both married to someone else, but he and López Mateos are as close as friends can be. López Mateos can usually count on Ordaz to get the job done, while Ordaz looks up to López Mateos as one of the few comforts from engaging in politics.
• Hidden Depths: One of his pastimes is golf, which Madrazo is a little surprised by.
• Hypocrite: He thinks ill of Japanese spies collecting intel in Mexico, in which one of his missions in Salinas' presidency is to hunt down a Japanese intelligence network called S Kikan. This, despite being an agent and informant for the FBI's espionage activities in Mexico, going by the codename "LITEMPO-2". He strikes a close partnership with the bureau chief Winston Scott, and his own nephew works with him as "LITEMPO-1".
• I Did What I Had to Do: López Mateos is furious by Ordaz's insubordination during the Aleutians Crisis, but the latter has little remorse for what he's done, arguing that he prevented World War III from breaking out, regardless of how close his plan came to failing or how much he tarnished Mexico's reputation in the process.
• Ignored Epiphany: In the final event, Ordaz acknowledges that he overreacted to the Madera attack, employing excessive force to a minor uprising. He doesn't want to be ruled by his impulses, especially because he knows that people will try to take advantage of that for their own gain. Unfortunately, he forgets this lesson as soon as he leaves Los Pinos and has dinner with his wife.
• Improperly Paranoid: The GPG's Madera attack does a serious number on Ordaz's psyche, as the President starts questioning who could be aiding the guerrillas and humiliating him. This paranoia drives him to start ramping up the punishments of disobedience to an absurd degree and believe that the Americans and Germans must be conspiring to aid these dissidents against him. Ordaz's personality shift both bewilders and disturbs the rest of his cabinet.
• Ineffectual Loner: Subverted. Extremely awkward and widely ostracized for being ugly, even by his own mother, Ordaz's youth was lonely. However, this didn't stop him from becoming a prestigious lawyer and politician.
• In Spite of a Nail: It's still possible for him to succeed Mateos as the president of Mexico just like OTL.
• It's Personal: Upon becoming President, Ordaz is urged by López Mateos to still work with Salinas, arguing that his economic talents are too useful to turn away. However, Ordaz refuses to heed this and reassigns Salinas to a useless position elsewhere, purely out of spite towards his personal rival.
• Mediation Backfire: Ordaz's attempt to defuse the Aleutians Crisis is not well-received by the United States or Japan. For the Americans, Mexico has no way of forcing Japan to issue an apology for their actions, meaning that the United States will have to release the pilot for no compensation. For the Japanese, the mutual fleet withdrawal means that there can be no investigation into the United States' demilitarization of the Aleutians and they're barely appeased by López Mateos' promise of a covert spy exchange in their favor.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: Compared to López Mateos, Ordaz is more willing to jump at violent solutions to dissidence, and will forgo any chance of talking them down so that he can destroy them instead. Even the rest of the PRI is unnerved by his reckless usage of this tactic.
• My Greatest Second Chance: After the Aleutians Crisis fiasco, López Mateos can grant Ordaz one last chance to redeem himself by going to the United States and convincing them to support Mexico's bid to host the Olympics.
• Nepotism:
  • Ordaz's rise to power was helped by the support of the then-Governor of Puebla, Maximino Ávila Camacho, the brother of President Manuel Ávila Camacho. His ties with Camacho propelled his career into congress, representing Puebla in 1943, and then as a senator from 1946. It would be here that he would ally with López Mateos and other important PRI figures.
  • As President, he appoints his brother Emilio as Secretary of the Presidency.
• Never My Fault: His administration is plagued with strikes and worker disobedience, worsened by Ordaz's harsh measures to silence them. Despite this, Ordaz considers himself to be the victim, calling them ungrateful and doubling down on his violent methods.
• Nostalgia Filter: Ordaz is a man who still holds to the status quo and is unwilling to enact reforms to change that, no matter how many people protest.
• Odd Friendship: Ordaz and López Mateos are very close friends despite being polar opposites.
• Old Friend: Ordaz has been a long-time friend of López Mateos from early in their political careers. Ordaz served as López Mateos' Secretary of the Interior and is considered a potential successor, despite their friendship recently taking a dive.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: His actions during the Aleutians Crisis are so brazen that it does serious damage to the good faith that López Mateos has in him. Even after the conflict is over, López Mateos resents Ordaz, making him work hard to get back in the President's good graces.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Ordaz is one of López Mateos' closest lieutenants and openly favored as his successor. However, the Aleutians Crisis takes a serious toll on Ordaz's loyalty, especially when he sees López Mateos' lack of progress in the negotiations and is unable to speak to the President as he flies to Tokyo. The depths of Ordaz's desperation are fully shown when an aerial collision happens and takes the threat of nuclear exchange to a new level, prompting Ordaz to use his power as Acting President and propose his own politically risky resolution to the crisis.
  • He's one of the hardest working and most reliable men that López Mateos knows, so when Ordaz isn't doing a job, López Mateos gets concerned and asks him about it.
• Order Is Not Good: Out of all of López Mateos' successors, Ordaz is the most obsessed with law and order. His dedicated mechanic, "El Titán", revolves around this, tracking the strength of his grip as Imperiousness. But this mindset is a dangerous one, leading him to overblow relatively minor threats and mercilessly destroy them in a manner that even disturbs the rest of the PRI. Tellingly, as his Imperiousness increases, his GUI image becomes overshadowed by a brutish-looking figure.
• Passing the Torch: Before he ascends to the presidency, Ordaz leaves the Secretariat of the Interior and personally nominates Echeverría as his successor. In his mind, there are few men as talented or loyal as him.
• Perpetual Frowner: His smiles are a rare sight, only shown when he's around a friend, like del Rosal.
• Personal Hate Before Common Goals: He has a bad habit of giving people undeserved positions just because he likes them while punishing rivals who would be better suited for the job. For example, he makes Campos Salas his Secretary of Industry and Commerce and reassigns Salinas to a useless position, satiating his grudge against the latter, despite Salinas' valuable skills and their common goal of maintaining Mexico's prosperity.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Ordaz starts to respect Madrazo when they team up and handle López Mateos' crises. If he gets nominated as López Mateos' successor, Ordaz will hire Madrazo as President of the CEN in gratitude for his work.
  • As President, Ordaz is reluctant to accept Madrazo's idea of organizing 1125 elections, which would upset the party establishment. However, he passes the initiative, at least partially because he considers Madrazo a friend and trusts his judgment.
  • Ordaz is easily flattered when Velázquez says he's a President of sound judgment, reciprocating the compliment.
  • López Mateos can feel overstressed by the time he steps down from the presidency, suffering a severe mental decline as he struggles to prepare for the 1968 Olympics. President Ordaz notices and sympathizes with his old friend, promising to expand the committee so they can lighten the load on him.
  • When López Mateos reports that he's dying, Ordaz is horrified by the news. They share a sunset, as Ordaz understands why López Mateos is moving away from politics and makes his friend promise that he will report on his future health.
  • Taking a lunch break in Salinas' route, Ordaz meets and exchanges a pleasant conversation with his FBI contact, Winston Scott. When they part ways, they each bid well to each other's wives.
  • Ordaz is disgusted when President Salinas frames Echeverría for the Madera attack, expressing his sympathies to a worn-down Echeverría.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • Ordaz plans to implement moderate economic and social reforms to placate the left of the party. He appoints Madrazo as President of the CEN and lets him do some reforms, as long as they don't rock the boat too hard. Once Madrazo starts crossing that line, their relationship deteriorates, and Ortega is employed to undo Madrazo's reforms.
  • He's especially wary of making Barragán his Secretary of National Defense, not because of his well-known brutality, but because he's aware of his treacherous history and fears that he'll betray him too. Ordaz reluctantly lets him join because he's good at keeping order through force, but reminds himself to keep Barragán at arm's length.
• Rags to Riches: His family was well-connected to Porfirio Díaz's regime, as Gustavo's father served in the regime and he himself was a relative of a Governor of Puebla. They lost much of their wealth when the Mexican Revolution upended the status quo and Ordaz struggled to finance his education, seemingly condemning them to poverty. However, Ordaz overcame the hardship and rose to become become an esteemed politician and potentially its President.
• Realpolitik: Ordaz is for diplomacy with the United States, pushing López Mateos to partner with them for the Olympics bid. Though the two countries have a history of conflict with each other, the United States is the most reliable trading partner of Mexico and can offer many favors, if they are appeased.
• Reassigned to Antarctica:
  • Downplayed with a Salinas presidency. Ordaz is allowed to join his cabinet as head of the Federal District, which is a fall from once being Mexico's second-most powerful figure. However, the position still affords him a good amount of authority and his clique is allowed to join the new administration because Salinas doesn't have enough power to rule by himself. This gives a chance for Ordaz to try influencing his administration, so Salinas can't count him out of the game just yet.
  • One of the first acts done by Madrazo after becoming President of Mexico is to effectively exile Ordaz to the United States to serve as ambassador, unable to influence Mexico's foreign policy, much less anything that happens domestically.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Ordaz teams up with Madrazo in the Party strategy against Nava and acts as the red oni. In contrast to Madrazo's calm demeanor, Ordaz is fuming at Nava's defiance and wants him taken care of with extreme force.
• The Reliable One: Ordaz became indispensable to López Mateos' cabinet due to him handling much of the work on hand. While working his way up the PRI and Interior Ministry, he rose in importance due to stopping the Interior Ministries political infighting during the reign of Ruiz Cortines. While Ordaz screws up the Aleutians Crisis, he can make up for this and win back López Mateos' favor, which will be his key to being named the next President.
• The Resenter: Much as he hates to admit it, he starts to resent Madrazo if the latter becomes President, stealing his chance to rule Mexico. It doesn't help that he's stuck as a relatively powerless ambassador to the United States, and doing boring busy work.
• The Rival: As López Mateos' favorite advisor, Ordaz is a frequent target for the ambitious Salinas. Both men want the presidency and scheme against each other multiple times to get López Mateos' favor.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Ordaz becomes Regent of the Federal District in Salinas' presidency, but a lot of tension remains between the two.
• Villainous Breakdown: Ordaz undergoes a serious decline after the Madera raid. Frustrated and paranoid of the "subversives" opposing the PRI, Ordaz suffers from sleeplessness and stomach issues, worsening his physical and mental state. Eventually, he starts buying paranoid conspiracy theories that the Americans and Germans are backing the GPG, ordering his cabinet to stamp out all forms of resistance to the harshest degree possible. At one point, he rants so hard against the "traitors" that he runs out of breath and stumbles briefly. This breakdown eventually cools off, but it's a worrying sign for his advisors, who vow that they cannot let such a thing happen again.
• Villainous Friendship:
  • Ordaz and López Mateos have a high level of respect towards each other. Of all of López Mateos' successors, Ordaz has the most personal interactions with him and was practically guaranteed to be his successor, until the Aleutians Crisis.
  • His best friend is Manautou. Whatever political disagreements they have, Ordaz values his loyalty above all, giving him the rare privilege of a hug when they meet.
  • Despite his initially negative first impression of Madrazo, Ordaz starts to befriend him as they work together and resolve Mexico's numerous crises. Eventually, Ordaz respects him enough to offer him a cabinet position in his presidency, though their relationship starts to worsen as Madrazo's inflammatory rhetoric harms Ordaz's agenda.
  • He's close friends with del Rosal, giving a rare smile in his presence and appointing him to his cabinet.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Ordaz has had many political disagreements with López Mateos, but that didn't stop them from being each other's closest allies.
• Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Ordaz is outraged by Nava's protest and, in the Party strategy, expresses skepticism of Madrazo's idea to negotiate with him. When Madrazo says that they need to give him a token of goodwill, Ordaz angrily replies that his "token" is that Nava hasn't been shot yet.
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • Downplayed after the Aleutians Crisis. López Mateos still considers him a friend, but Ordaz falls out of favor to succeed him when he expressed an aggressively pro-OFN sentiment during the Aleutians Crisis. Depending on how Ordaz acts for the rest of the presidency, he could win that favor back.
  • He and Madrazo shared enough in common to consider each other friendly rivals. But that friendship is severed when Ordaz becomes President and restricts the reformists out of post-Madera paranoia. In the end, Madrazo turns in his resignation, and Ordaz coldly dismisses him without considering Madrazo's hand-picked list of potential replacements.
• What You Are in the Dark: Afforded a rare moment of solitude early in his presidency, Ordaz already feels the pressures of the office weigh on him. He drinks a glass of water, wipes his brow, and slicks back his hair to cover up his insecurities and show his best look to the rest of the country.
• Workaholic: Ordaz is one of the hardest working men that López Mateos knows, and his favorite conversational subject is work. He prides himself on leaving little free time to himself, and it's part of the reason why López Mateos counts him as his most trustworthy ally.
• Wrong Line of Work: Despite having no experience with diplomacy, Ordaz is hired by President Madrazo to be an Ambassador to the United States, supposedly because he's so sympathetic to the Americans. With no other choice, Ordaz sullenly resigns himself to his new job.
• You Are in Command Now: The Secretary of the Interior serves as Acting President when the current one is ill or abroad and usually serves a minor role. However, during the Aleutians Crisis, Ordaz uses this position to act independently and propose his own resolution to the conflict.
• You Have Failed Me: Downplayed in his presidency. He doesn't believe in firing his cabinet members for ineptitude, as it would be more disastrous to switch them out in the middle of a term. However, he'll still find a way to punish them somehow.
• Zero-Approval Gambit: Zig-Zagged. His strict law enforcement policies, pro-OFN policies, and moderate economic and social reforms make him appealing to the PRI. However, the people just see him as a neoimperialist dictator, though Ordaz doesn't care and is willing to take that risk if he can prove himself better than López Mateos.

Role: Secretary of Industry and Commerce^note  (López Mateos cabinet), President of Mexico^note  (1964 election)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• The Ace: When it comes to economics, Salinas has had an impressively long and successful career. To list his most famous accomplishments, he founded the National Institute of Public Administration, headed Economic Studies in the Ministry of Finance, and rose to become López Mateos' economic minister. In this cabinet position, he fostered greater connections with Japan's political and business establishment, bringing Japanese firms into Mexico and encouraging Mexican companies to export to the CPS. This lowered Mexico's trade deficit, supported continued economic growth, and reduced their dependence on the United States. As a bonus, these policies funded López Mateos' education and welfare, making Salinas a likely successor.
• Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: In the Doctor's Strike, Salinas hesitates to destroy the AMM because they're made up of doctors, the same middle-class professionals that Salinas is trying to appeal to. So long as the Doctor's Strike is properly managed, Salinas will never destroy the AMM.
• Asshole Victim: Out of spiteful hatred, President Ordaz will assign Salinas to become a special advisor to the Governor of Yucatán, giving him a powerless position. While the rejection of Salinas' economic expertise could spell trouble for the nation, Ordaz isn't wrong that Salinas was also an unsympathetic schemer who intentionally manufactured crises to seize power for himself.
• Blue Blood: Unlike most of the PRI, Salines comes from an aristocratic family who were close with the Porfiriato. As such, Salinas lived a relatively comfortable life before studying economics in the United States.
• Bullying a Dragon: Salinas is playing a dangerous game by getting closer to Japan. Even though the Sphere offers great economic benefits, the United States will start losing its patience as Mexico turns away from its trade and investments. Given the United States' history of attacking Mexico, it's not unthinkable that they will do it again. Salinas' in-game mechanic even alludes to this risk with its title "Icarus"; fly too close to the Rising Sun and Salinas will come crashing down.
• The Chessmaster:
  • During the Kabuki Crisis, Salinas can exploit the Nava protest for his own gain, secretly sabotaging the government negotiations with Nava and letting the crisis get worse. The chaos will discredit Ordaz and Madrazo to López Mateos, putting him a step ahead in the succession race.
  • Despite having the intel needed to destroy the GPG, Salinas instead arms them for an attack on the Madera barracks so that the disaster can be pinned on his rival, Echeverría. The plan goes off successfully and, as the DFS hunts down the last of the GPG, Salinas demotes Echeverría. He then uses the crisis as a justification to eliminate his other opposition, including Chumacero and the other opposition parties.
• Conspicuous Consumption: As a member of an aristocratic family, Salinas is fabulously rich and he's not afraid to show it during his presidency, such as eating an extravagant dinner with his family.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Salinas is power-hungry and manipulative, but few can match his knowledge and expertise with economics. López Mateos keeps him in his cabinet for this reason and even advises President Ordaz to do the same and set aside his rivalry with Salinas for the sake of Mexico.
• Emperor Scientist: Inspired by the Empire of Japan, Salinas favours technocratic policies and breakneck industrialisation. His academic background has instilled in him an appreciation for models, statistics, and calculation. As such, he will often solicit the advice of technicians, academics, and think tanks to inform policy positions.
• Enemy Mine: Upon becoming President-elect, Salinas needs to find allies beyond his narrow clique of technocrats. Ever the pragmatist, he grants cabinet positions to Ordaz and Madrazo's factions, offering a truce for the sake of the country.
• Enlightened Self-Interest: Salinas' administration practices "benign neglect" to the Indigenous communities, separating the Indigenous bureaucracy from his work and dropping the pretense of ever caring for these groups. It's argued that this benefits both sides, as Salinas doesn't have to worry about their affairs anymore and the Indigenous communities won't be actively oppressed. At least one anthropologist argues that this could be the "best indigenous relations" seen in years.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Margarita de Gortari is his wife, and Salinas can risk his reputation with the party by letting her pursue her career, violating the tradition of the first lady always standing beside her husband at public events.
  • He's on friendly terms with his two sons, Raúl and Carlos. If he's President, Salinas fears that, if he fails, his enemies will target his children out of spite, which motivates him to work harder.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • As President, Salinas deliberately arms the GPG so that he can make Echeverría look bad, but he knows that he's crossing a line here. Thus, he gives a silent prayer in guilt of what he's about to do.
  • Despite having the most pro-Sphere foreign policy of López Mateos' successors, Salinas is uncomfortable on the subject of Manchuria. Their flagrant labor exploitation unnerves him, which may convince him to not do business with them.
• Evil Is Petty: Besides the typical suppression and corruption he authorizes in his presidency, Salinas also moves the CNC events from the Federal District to cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Tijuana. It's apparently supposed to attract more development beyond the capital, but Salinas is doing it to spite the Federal District's Regent, Ordaz.
• Fatal Flaw: His unpopularity. Salinas' technocratic plans are sound on paper, but disdained by the rest of the party because they don't want to be held accountable for their corruption. Thus, the technocrats struggle to maintain control of the party and reluctantly turn to Alemán for help.
• Foreign Culture Fetish: Among López Mateos' three successors, Salinas is most aligned with American values. Having lived in Massachusetts, he has first-hand experience of the American way of life, and, as a Harvard student, the lifestyles of the American elite. From this, he gained a great admiration for the American system as it operates within American borders. However, both from his studies of economics and the racism he experienced in the US, he also came to an understanding that American prosperity is based upon the economic domination of less powerful neighbours, so any developing nation within the US sphere must actively distance themselves from America if they want to achieve an American way of life.
• Glory Seeker: Salinas loves getting credit for the work he does as President and even gets envious of Campos Salas making a speech to some Japanese businessmen, solely because he's not the one talking on stage.
• Hidden Depths: Salinas enjoys a good horse ride, being a charro who can tame even the wildest of horses. He usually schedules a ride every few months as exercise and, when he gets a break to jaunt with a chestnut thoroughbred, Salinas smiles in excitement.
• Hypocrite: A good chunk of his presidency is dedicated to purging corrupt officials who are hindering the PRI's efficiency, but Salinas is eventually forced to take advice from Alemán, an infamously corrupt President after he alienated the PRI.
• It's All About Me: Unlike Ordaz, Salinas doesn't bother hiding his ego, if he's named López Mateos' successor. In the ballot, he shamelessly votes for himself and goes on his merry way.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Indirectly exiled to Yucatán in Ordaz's presidency, Salinas gives up trying to worm his way into the administration and becomes a Professor at UNAM. Salinas figures that Ordaz is too stubborn to ever mend bridges with him, so he resolves to wait for the next President before he resumes his plotting.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste:
  • Salinas is not a hugely important politician and Ordaz is all but stated to be López Mateos' successor. That all changes when Ordaz mishandles the Aleutians Crisis and, combined with the left's disunity and Antonio Ortiz Mena's refusal to lead the Alemanistas, Salinas can try swaying López Mateos's favor to give him the nomination.
  • A Trujillist victory in the Puerto Plata invasion is a devastating loss for Mexico, but Salinas uses the failure to convince López Mateos that Mexico shouldn't be partnering with the United States, coaxing him to turn towards Japan instead.
  • If the technocrats are empowered during the Kabuki Crisis, Salinas will sabotage Ordaz and Madrazo's effort to stop Nava's protests in San Luis Potosí, pulling in favors from his network to obstruct the process and let the crisis fester to make his rivals look bad.
  • The Doctors' Strike presents a ripe opportunity for him to co-opt the movement and use it to reform the CNOP, fixing their inefficiencies per his technocratic agenda.
  • In Zacatecas, a metalworkers' union rebels against the CTM by firing their old leader and electing a new one. Sensing an opportunity to undermine Chumacero, Salinas can rile up the unions into a revolt, stoking the conflict so that the strikers take over a factory and Chumacero can be forced to negotiate with them.
  • He arms the GPG for an attack on the Madera barracks, which he uses as grounds to get rid of Echeverría and his other opponents, thereby centralizing more power to himself.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Subverted if the United States is partnered with. López Mateos doesn't share his unredacted plans of visiting the United States, yet Salinas somehow gets a hold of a copy, annotates its flaws, and leaves it in the President's office. An annoyed López Mateos asks Baurraud how this could have happened, but Baurraud can only speculate that he learned about it when he was asked for economic advice by someone.
• Long Game:
  • His presidency initially focuses on local-level pilot programs, which foreshadows his grander plans to radically change the PRI's foundations and replace their stagnation with modern efficiency.
  • Salinas' voice is overshadowed in Ordaz's presidency, as he's reassigned to advise the Governor of Yucatán and taken away from the real levers of power. Though frustrated, Salinas doesn't try anything immediately radical. He plans to take a professorship at UNAM and wait out the conclusion of Ordaz's term, in hopes that someone more pragmatic will take over and invite Salinas to influence the PRI regime again. Furthermore, Salinas thinks about how he can influence the next generation of leaders to his liking, which could create a legacy that outlives Ordaz's.
• Meet the New Boss: Salinas' presidency revives a lot of the policies pursued by Adolfo Cotrines, including his "March to the Sea" Pacific development program and his anti-corruption crusade.
• Never My Fault: Tipsy from sake, Salinas will blame the Caribbean Legion's defeat in Puerto Plata on the Americans. Even though Mexico and Cuba were also major backers, Salinas argues that the Americans wanted too much control over the Legion and didn't fully support their efforts, which supposedly hindered the war effort.
• Passing the Torch: Upon becoming President, Salinas handpicks Campos Salas to replace him as Secretary of Industry and Commerce.
• Pet the Dog:
  • When chosen as López Mateos' successor, Salinas plans to go to an important dinner and meet other party officials. He wants to follow the tradition of the first lady following her husband to public events, but Margarita complains that she has a public speech on the same day. Salinas may relent and let her go, even if this violation of the rules will get him criticism from the rest of the party.
  • Salinas can set aside his grudge towards Ordaz's presidency when Campos Salas asks if he can bring in Japanese investments to Mexico. Contrary to Campos Salas' expectations, Salinas obliges.
  • After becoming President, Salinas puts López Mateos in charge of the Olympic Organizing Committee. Even though he has little interest in this subject, he recognizes that López Mateos is passionate about this and is assured that he'll do a good job, only making him promise that he won't work himself to death.
  • If López Mateos is too stressed in Salinas' presidency, he will request help in preparing for the Olympics. Salinas already has plenty of work ahead of him, but he nonetheless pitches in out of gratitude to López Mateos for giving him the presidency in the first place.
  • When López Mateos reveals that he's dying, President Salinas feels frustrated because he believes that this could've been prevented if his predecessor hadn't exerted himself with work. However, he ultimately bites his tongue out of sympathy for López Mateos and merely gives him a sharp glare. And, despite his irritation, Salinas still offers his respects for López Mateos making it this far.
  • When his eldest son says he's going to the movies with his friends, Salinas bids him farewell and wishes that he has a good time.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: In his presidency, he often steals elements of Indigenous cultures and culturally appropriates them into exotic symbols to exploit, such as using Nahua art in the Olympic Stadium's model design. This is one of the many reasons why he clashes with Echeverría, who has remarkable sympathy for the Indigenous communities.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Both of Salinas' solutions to the Doctor's Strike are motivated by pragmatism. He doesn't want to crack down on the AMM because they're composed of middle-class doctors, whom Salinas respects. Thus, he'll either co-opt the strikes to push through his technocratic reforms or absorb the AMM into the CNOP while targeting the AMMRI.
• Rank Up: Salinas served in minor roles in the PRM in 1940, but then was promoted to Director of Economic Studies in the Secretary of Hacienda in 1948 and an economic advisor for Central American countries in the 1950s. Salinas' rise caught the eye of López Mateos and he was invited to join his cabinet in 1958.
• Realpolitik: Unlike López Mateos, Salinas is more willing to open up fishing waters to the Japanese. Even though it represents a threat to the people living on the coastline and could incite outrage from America, Salinas argues that cooperation can be key to providing higher and more stable incomes to the Pacific territories and facilitating their industrial projects. Still, López Mateos is unconvinced and may only consider the proposal when Salinas offers to implement a quota and movement restrictions.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: In Ordaz's presidency, Salinas becomes a special advisor to the Governor of Yucatán. The new job is so powerless that it's an effective exile for him.
• The Rival: Enforced. Despite being a newcomer to the party, Salinas is brought on López Mateos' cabinet to act as a rival towards Ordaz, ensuring that he doesn't feel too comfortable being the President's favorite. Throughout López Mateos' presidency, the two politicians clash and compete for the upcoming sexenio, which crops up in conflicts like the Nava Crisis.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Salinas' presidency is built on making alliances of convenience since the technocrats lack the influence to rule alone. It's necessary, but that doesn't mean it wears on Salinas' patience:
  • Chumacero is only brought into his cabinet because Salinas owes Velázquez a favor for his help in the Nava Crisis. But Salinas has no respect for Chumacero's habit of overspending on his projects and undermining the government's efficiency. Multiple times, the two clash with each other, as Chumacero is protected by Velázquez, and Salinas has to get crafty in restraining him.
  • Ordaz becomes Regent of the Federal District, but his rivalry with the President is still ongoing. Salinas looks for numerous ways to undermine Ordaz however he can, such as directing development away from the Federal District.
  • Despite being his second-in-command, Echeverría is viewed apprehensively by Salinas. From the President's perspective, Echeverría is too ambitious for his own good, willing to fight Salinas on overanalyzing the Pacific trade or protecting Indigenous communities from federal-backed development. Not helping matters is Echeverría's seeming inability to deal with the GPG in a timely fashion.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Salinas is hyper-focused on numbers and economic growth, which means that he'll do anything if it means that the green line keeps going up. One day, he'll clear out the corruption infesting the PRI, but the next day, he can worsen the wealth inequality between the ejidos and abandon the Revolution's egalitarian ideals.
• Villainous Breakdown: Downplayed. Salinas has a brief meltdown if the Nava Crisis goes badly for him. He angrily slams his phone when he hears one of his allies turn sides to Ordaz, but he takes a moment to recompose himself and concoct another scheme to undermine his rivals, even if he has little shot of becoming López Mateos' successor at this point.
• Visionary Villain: The ultimate goal of his presidency is to change the base foundation of the PRI, casting aside the old guard's inefficiency with a technocratic vision that prioritizes innovation and competency.
• What's Up, King Dude?: Exploited during his presidential campaign. He conducts tours throughout the country, from ranches in the north to industrial centers in the cities, all to show the people that he has their concerns in mind.
• White Man's Burden: Subverted. Uniquely, Salinas doesn't even pretend to care or help the disadvantaged Indigenous communities of Mexico. Provided that their interests do not conflict, he takes a relatively hands-off approach to these groups.
• Wicked Cultured: He has a taste for Japanese books, art, and movies, which he wants to introduce to Mexico if López Mateos agrees to partner with Japan.
• Wild Card:
  • Salinas isn't as politically connected as the other PRI members, so he's more of a wily schemer who changes alliances when it suits him.
  • His allegiance to the PRI is rather flexible. If it suits him, he'll deliberately worsen the party's crises and arm their enemies, a bold strategy so that he can delegitimize his rivals.

Role: Governor of Tabasco, President of Mexico^note  (1964 election), President of the National Executive Committee of the PRI (Ordaz cabinet), Senator of Tabasco (Salinas elected)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• The Ace: Madrazo is one of the most accomplished Governors in Mexican history. He paved and lit the streets of Villahermosa, built Malecón, and integrated Tabasco's road system with the rest of the country. In short, Madrazo defied Tabasco's reputation as a city behind the times.
• Action Politician: When he was younger, Madrazo wasn't afraid to get dirty and campaign for youth organizations like United Socialist Youth and the National Cardenista Student Party.
• Anti-Villain: He plays within the PRI's dictatorial structure, but he's the least malicious of López Mateos' successors. Compared to the raging Ordaz and the scheming Salinas, Madrazo generally pursues a lighter hand of governance when it is available, expressing some sympathy for the PRI's opponents and confronting the worst social issues plaguing Mexico, namely its corruption and economic inequality.
• The Apprentice: When he was a teenager, Madrazo gave a speech at his school and impressed the renowned Governor of Tabasco and revolutionary caudillo, Tomás Garrido Canabal. Taking him in as a "young tribune", Canabal invited Madrazo on a statewide tour and gave him a state scholarship. In 1934, Canabal, now a minister in the Cárdenas administration, entrusted Madrazo to lead the paramilitary Red Shirts, up to their dismantlement in 1935. Their friendship later became one reason why Madrazo succeeded Canabal as Governor in 1959, after López Mateos' election.
• Back from the Brink: Madrazo joined the PRM in 1938 and enjoyed a short rise before 1946 when his support to Rojo Gomez's presidential campaign against Alemán earned him temporary imprisonment and political exile. However, he continued to organize socialist students and rejoined the government in a minor role towards the end of Alemán's presidency. By Ruiz Cortines' term, Madrazo became a representative of Tabasco and allied with López Mateos, which bore fruit when the latter became President and appointed Madrazo to Governor of Tabasco. Madrazo may rise even higher if he manages to become President.
• Bait the Dog: On first impression, Madrazo seems like the Token Good Teammate of the PRI, looking like the most humane and reasonable successor to López Mateos. However, his darker nature is first hinted at by his callous treatment of the Indigenous communities, forcefully taking their land for development purposes and being willing to dispense with their culture for the sake of "progress". But Madrazo's true colors are exposed after the GPG's attack on Madera, which outrages him so much that he orders a harsh counterattack on them and centralizes more power to himself so that he can purge his enemies within the government. By the end, Madrazo doesn't look that much better than Ordaz or Salinas.
• Beneath the Mask: Madrazo internally fears the possibility of failure, which would mean the death of the Revolution and the continued suffering of tens of millions. However, his insecurities drive him to fight even harder, despite how much opposition he faces within the PRI and by the guerrillas.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Madrazo is a controversial, but still highly respected member of the PRI, which can all change in Ordaz's presidency. After publicly denouncing the PRI and their corruption, the rest of the party starts distancing themselves from Madrazo and Ordaz himself loses all faith in him.
  • As an opponent to President Salinas, Madrazo denounces his administration's appointment of "professionals" who express blind loyalty to Salinas, putting them over the old guard who has served the PRI for decades. However, this comment can turn the students on Madrazo, if the intellectual support is high. To them, it looks like Madrazo is siding with the same party members who have fought against the reforms they've tried to advocate, thereby betraying his principles in the process.
• Bullying a Dragon: Given his leftist and nationalist sympathies, Madrazo is focused on creating a more just and equal future for Mexico. Inevitably, this pits him against the United States and Japan, who are eager to keep their economic ties to the country. His unique mechanic, the "Forge of the Revolution", is dedicated to managing the two superpowers' coercion and pressure, which could spell disaster if not properly managed.
• Condescending Compassion: Madrazo sympathizes with the Indigenous Yokot'an in Tabasco, but doesn't bother understanding their needs. He demeans the federal government for neglecting and mistreating the Yokot'an, and his solution is to bulldoze the jungle so they can have more farmland, unaware that the Yokot'an relies on the jungle to hunt and build their homes with palmwood. As well-intentioned as Madrazo is, he ultimately enforces his own views of "progress" on them.
• Dark Horse Victory: Madrazo is initially not considered a viable successor to López Mateos, but if he can unite the left of the party, he has a shot at getting the nomination.
• The Determinator:
  • Madrazo has spent his life working through politics to implement reforms that would benefit the common person and is determined to continue anti-corruption efforts and socio-economic reforms. In his election event, he promises fundamental reforms in his inauguration speech, even if he will face opposition from the orthodox members of the PRI.
  • He faces an uphill struggle in Salinas' presidency, as he's a relatively less powerful senator and loses many allies who start working for the new President. But Madrazo does not give up, planning to keep denouncing the technocrats' corruption and elitism for as long as he possibly can.
• Do Not Go Gentle: As Madrazo resigns into retirement, Ortega replaces his old government position, outing himself as a traitor to the reformists and undoing all of the policies set by them. While the party thinks that Madrazo is no longer a problem, Madrazo begs to differ and resigns from the PRI altogether to make them pay.
• Do Well, But Not Perfect: Madrazo should try to satisfy his revolutionary promises, but he mustn't go overboard or else he will draw the ire of the United States and Japan. If they are repeatedly antagonized, the two superpowers can increase the pressure on Mexico and induce negative in-game debuffs. The more pressure the superpowers apply, the worse the effects will be.
• Double Meaning: In Salinas' presidency, Madrazo conducts a bunch of inflammatory speeches against the "elites", who aren't specifically named. However, everyone knows that he's referring to the President and his cabal of technocrats.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Madrazo is willing to cooperate with Ordaz, due to their shared animosity to Salinas, the Alemanistas, and their ideology. During the Kabuki Crisis, Madrazo makes an official truce with Ordaz so that they can stop Salinas and his technocratic agenda.
  • His political beliefs aren't one-to-one with Echeverría, but Madrazo believes that he is trustworthy because they both care about the PRI's interests and will stay united for as long as that common goal exists.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Madrazo does not have high opinions of Alemán's presidency and believes that the Revolution will not survive another person like him.
  • He condemns the economic policies of Ortiz Mena, which created the vast wealth gap in Mexico. During his presidency, he presents research on how Ortiz Mena has systematically disadvantaged the poorest Mexicans and criticizes him for it.
  • Much as he supports the dictatorial structure built by the PRI, Madrazo is unnerved by Ordaz's ruthlessness, which he considers to be out-of-line and a betrayal of the PRI's principles.
  • Even though Nava's protest is in opposition to the PRI, Madrazo sympathizes with him enough to consider negotiations to appease some of his demands. If the police are called to violently suppress his protest, Madrazo is conflicted and feels that they should've pursued more diplomacy.
  • Despite concentrating more power on himself after the Madera raid, Madrazo is a little uncertain if this is the right move for his presidency, believing that his old self would've never used policies like expanded prison times and militarized police duties to silence his enemies. He still signs the initiatives, but a part of him still tries to justify it as a necessary evil.
• Evil Colonialist: His presidency authorizes an extensive Indigenous development plan, which will forcefully develop Indigenous land and force the native people to give up their cultural identities.
• False Confession: Madrazo supported Rojo Gomez as a presidential candidate in 1946, opposed to Alemán. Like the rest of Rojo Gomez's supporters, Madrazo was arrested for this, and tortured into falsely confessing that he participated in a human trafficking scandal. It wasn't until a few months later that the Supreme Court ruled him innocent and had Madrazo, along with the rest of Rojo Gomez's allies, released.
• Fatal Flaw: Wrath. When his offers of leniency and welfare are repaid with continued dissidence, Madrazo completely blows his cool rather than learn why the people are still opposed to the PRI. In these fits of rage, he will contradict his political beliefs and use excessive force to crush his enemies, which happens after the Madera raid.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Madrazo and Ordaz are initially apprehensive of each other until they start working together in resolving numerous crises, like the Nava Crisis, and become more friendly to each other.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Due to speaking out against the corruption of the PRI, Madrazo is disliked by his party, who form a coalition with disgruntled businessmen to halt his reforms.
• A Hero to His Hometown: While Madrazo faces significant opposition within the PRI, he is beloved in his home state of Tabasco for his industrialization policies, which have significantly improved the quality of life and cultivated Villahermosa into a medium-sized city.
• Honor Before Reason: Madrazo sets up primary elections in Ordaz's presidency, but they are all undermined by corrupt governors who oppose or manipulate them to their favor. Frustrated, Madrazo goes to Jalisco so he can publicly denounce the PRI, claiming that they have lost their way by engaging in corruption at the people's expense. He knows that this speech is suicide for his career, but he'd rather do this than stay silent.
• Hypocrite:
  • Exploited. Much as he wants to democratize the party, he doesn't want to introduce a constitutional amendment abolishing the one-term limit for members of the Chamber of Deputies. One of Madrazo's enemies, posing as a reformist, exploits this and proposes this initiative so that Madrazo will have no choice but to kill it, drawing backlash for his hypocrisy.
  • A lot of his rhetoric is centered around idolizing the Mexican Revolution, which started as an armed struggle against the repressive and elitist Porfirato. But when the GPG continues their armed struggle against his presidency and raids the Madera barracks, Madrazo is beyond furious and demands a violent retaliation against them.
• Internal Reformist:
  • Madrazo is a firm reformist, with a commitment to anti-corruption and tackling the socio-economic problems in the nation. Whether or not he will be able to achieve these reforms in the face of institutionalized opposition is another question and an uphill battle Madrazo will have to face.
  • In Ordaz's presidency, Madrazo is appointed as President of the CEN and allowed to do whatever reforms are deemed necessary, provided that they don't disrupt things too radically. However, these reforms prove unpopular among the corrupt landowners, and Madrazo himself goes out of line denouncing the PRI's continued cooperation with them, causing him to be replaced with Ortega.
• It's All My Fault: If Salinas becomes President, Madrazo blames himself for this outcome, fearing what Salinas will do to revert Mexico's welfare laws.
• It's Personal: His desire to reform the party of corruption and cronyism was, at least, exacerbated when he was imprisoned in the 1940s, all because he supported Rojo Gómez over Alemán. The torment he endured showed him that the PRI abandoned the Revolution's ideals, setting him on a mission to fix this.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": He's excited to personally meet Cárdenas and invite him to his cabinet, respecting him as a hero of the Mexican Revolution, who fought for worker's rights and created the corporatist structure used by the PRI.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Madrazo originally wasn't planning on succeeding López Mateos, but Ordaz's rash actions during the Aleutians Crisis have soured the thought of him becoming the next President, giving an opening for Madrazo to compete for the office.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: His patronizing views on the Indigenous and his excessive response to the Madera raid shows that he's far from a good guy. However, he does legitimately believe in helping the poor and peasantry, expanding the welfare benefits guaranteed by López Mateos, and introducing new ones too. He shines all the brighter when compared to the short-tempered and violent Ordaz, as well as the treacherous and cold-hearted Salinas.
• Moral Guardians: As President, Madrazo can agree with Cárdenas and Echeverría's suggestion to crack down on the café cantantes, which are blamed for corrupting the youth with underage drinking, illegal drug possession, and other vices.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In Salinas' route, Madrazo criticizes the President's appointment of technocrats over the old guard, making it look like he's turning on the reformist movement. If Salinas has high enough intellectual support, the students turn on Madrazo for this. As he reflects on the backlash, Madrazo doesn't seem that mad and even wonders if he betrayed his ideals.
• Necessarily Evil: He ramps up the repression of his enemies, following the Madera raid in his presidency, but he justifies these measures as a necessity to defend the Revolution.
• Never My Fault: Downplayed. When Tabasco is flooded, Madrazo internally realizes that the disaster can partially be attributed to him because he ignored the Public Works officials and meteorologists who warned him about this. As he reads the news, Madrazo looks around as if to find someone else to blame, until López Mateos snaps him out of it and tells him to act.
• Obliviously Evil: He buys his reformist act so much that, when the Madera raid occurs in his presidency, Madrazo is in furious befuddlement at why the peasant guerrillas have turned on him.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • He trusts Sierra as a friend and wise advisor, so it's more shocking when Madrazo declares a full-blown crackdown on the GPG after the Madera raid and refuses to listen to Sierra's urge to calm down.
  • President Madrazo drops his proud demeanor when told that López Mateos is dying. In this vulnerable state, Madrazo visits his predecessor in the hospital bed to offer his condolences.
• Passing the Torch: Subverted in Ordaz's presidency. As Madrazo announces his resignation, he tries to give a list of candidates for Ordaz to replace him. Unfortunately for him, Ordaz ignores the suggestion and says that he already has a replacement in mind, which is Ortega.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Instead of forcefully annexing the AMM and AMMRI, Madrazo can defuse the Doctor's Strike by convincing them to stand down, giving them enough concessions so that they willingly join the state-run unions.
  • Upon reforming the ejidos in his presidency, Madrazo tries to guarantee protections for workers employed by foreign corporations, like raises and safety regulations. Unfortunately, corruption within the CNC prevents these reforms from being fully applied, but Madrazo's intentions were benevolent.
  • President Madrazo can nationalize every foreign agribusiness in Mexico, redistributing their land to the ejidos and creating new ejidos out of what's left. The workers will be extremely happy to have the land given back to them, and Madrazo is willing to bear the diplomatic and economic repercussions of this.
  • The Great Southern Plan can also be implemented in his presidency, which nationalizes Mexico's resources and collectivizes production facilities, like bakeries, to fight the influence of foreign corporations.
  • At Paz's insistence, Madrazo can edit his education reforms to increase teacher wages and permit more independent thought from the students.
  • He has his disagreements with López Mateos, but he respects him enough that, when Madrazo becomes President and hears of the latter's failing health, he visits him in the hospital. He offers to take over López Mateos' duties in the Olympic Organizing Committee and affirms his respect for the former President's willingness to keep working on this project.
  • Madrazo feels ashamed when President Ordaz sidelines the reformists and plans to undo his and Ortega's reforms. He makes a mental note to apologize to Ortega for this, unaware that his partner has been working with Ordaz to replace him.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Madrazo believes that Mexico's Indigenous populations should give up their cultures and embrace "modernization" by integrating with the rest of the country, which is condescending at best and ethnocentric at worst.
• Rabble Rouser: Madrazo opposes Salinas' presidency by inciting mob outrage against the technocrats. He loudly criticizes the regime's corruption, elitism, and subversion of Mexico's democracy, which riles the masses.
• Red Baron: Madrazo is nicknamed the "Cyclone from the Southeast", representing the change he will bring to Mexico.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Madrazo teams up with Ordaz in the Party strategy against Nava and acts as the blue oni. While Ordaz is furious about the whole affair, Madrazo maintains a cool head and wants to conduct negotiations with Nava, so that the PRI looks less repressive to the public.
• Reluctant Retiree: After President Ordaz sidelines the reformists, he forces Madrazo to go into early retirement, a life that Madrazo does not enjoy at all. The moment he realizes that Ortega has been conspiring with Ordaz to replace him, Madrazo gets back into action and resigns from the PRI entirely to deal some damage to them.
• Repressive, but Efficient: Madrazo's career is built off of the repressive structure that keeps the PRI in power, but he's done a lot of work as Governor. Tabasco used to be one of the poorest regions of Mexico until Madrazo was elected and rolled out reforms like expanded social services and modernized infrastructure to make it so prosperous.
• The Scapegoat: Madrazo must be careful to restrain what proposals are given by the reformists. As their leader, any controversial move from the faction will tarnish his reputation, and Madrazo's enemies will be happy to pin any reformist troubles on him.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Nationalizing the foreign agribusinesses will drive the Americans and Japanese to pull their foreign investments from Mexico, but Madrazo doesn't care so long as the workers are no longer exploited under their thumb.
• The Scrooge: Downplayed. Madrazo's miserliness only extends to giving minimal funding to the Olympic Committee during his presidency. His whole demeanor about the subject is apathetic, and López Mateos doesn't expect to get a lot of support on it.
• Self-Made Man: Madrazo grew up in poverty and had a long history of activism, with his oratory skills propelling him into politics, becoming governor of Tabasco, and transforming the local industry and infrastructure. He can potentially reach the heights of becoming president of Mexico if he wins the succession battle after López Mateos.
• Sixth Ranger: At the start of the game, Madrazo is the Governor of Tabasco, but makes a strong impression on López Mateos. When the Kabuki Crisis hits, López Mateos reveals that he's invited Madrazo to the cabinet meeting so that he can help confront Nava and his protest.
• Straight Edge Evil: When he was younger, Madrazo supported Governor Garrido's temperance campaign, and he still carries this attitude into his presidency. He does not tolerate tobacco and alcohol in his presence, banning these drugs among his cabinet members.
• Taking Up the Mantle: His politics are inspired by many past revolutionaries, including Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, Francisco José Múgica, and Tomás Garrido Canabal.
• Team Switzerland: Madrazo is committed to neutrality, pursuing protectionist agendas against both the USA and Japan.
• Undying Loyalty:
  • He supported Rojo Gómez's presidential candidacy, which put him in the crosshairs of the Alemánistas, the rival faction. The Alemánistas illegally detained Madrazo and tried to get him to denounce Rojo Gómez, but Madrazo refused to turn on his friend.
  • Madrazo has supported López Mateos since the 50s and played a key role in winning the presidency. When Madrazo swears that he's not using the upcoming succession race for his political ends, López Mateos believes him.
• Universally Beloved Leader: The left wing of the PRI is a divided bunch, but the one thing they can agree on is that Madrazo is a good representative for him, speaking positively and offering cordial feedback to his talking points, like the cacao industry and the ejidos.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Madrazo believes that Indigenous land should be forcefully taken and developed on, which means building hospitals, police stations, roads, offices, and schools through them. The fact that the Indigenous people don't want this is of minimal concern to Madrazo.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Madrazo is reputed as a skilled orator, capturing the praise of the youth and workers. His inauguration speech is the only one to be well received by the crowd watching, who cheer on his pledges to tackle Mexico's socio-economic issues.
• Villainous Friendship:
  • He starts getting friendlier with Ordaz after they work together to resolve López Mateos' numerous crises and stop Salinas' machinations.
  • Madrazo is a friend of Gómez, supporting his presidential bid in the 1946 election. Even when this got him unlawfully imprisoned, Madrazo refused to denounce Gómez.
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • Madrazo is on friendly enough terms with Ordaz until the latter becomes President. As Ordaz devolves into a paranoid mess after the Madera raid, he starts sidelining the reformists and drives Madrazo to the point of resignation. Their last exchange is a tense one, a stark contrast to the usual warmth their old conversations had.
  • A more striking betrayal happens between Madrazo and Ortega in Ordaz's presidency. Madrazo closely worked alongside Ortega, considering him one of his most trustworthy allies. It's only when Madrazo resigns that he finds out that Ortega has replaced him, having collaborated with Ordaz to take over his position and raising the possibility that Ortega has been secretly sabotaging their reforms along the way. He's so outraged that Madrazo resigns from the PRI in revenge.
• We Used to Be Friends: As longtime allies, Madrazo thought that he could trust Ortega and work with him to reform Ordaz's administration. But after resigning from the cabinet, Madrazo realizes that Ortega was a traitor colluding with Ordaz to sabotage their reforms and seize his job when the opportunity arose.
• White Man's Burden: During his presidency, Madrazo orders a massive infrastructure project to assimilate the Indigenous communities into the rest of Mexico, beginning a crusade to develop the country at the expense of forcing the natives to give up their cultural identity. What they call "intrusion" is "modernization" to Madrazo.
• Worthy Opponent: Ordaz simultaneously regards Madrazo as a rival and a friend. Even though they have some political disagreements, Ordaz can respect his expertise, enough to give him leadership of the CEN if he becomes President.

Role: Secretary of External Relations^note  (López Mateos cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• The Reliable One: He's good at keeping Mexico respected on the geopolitical stage and has served Mexico's foreign ministry since 1943 because of this. He rose to Undersecretary, became Secretary for Alemán, and got that same position under López Mateos. He might be leaving office soon when López Mateos steps down, but rumors circulate that he's still going to be working as the Senator of Zacatecas.

Role: Secretary of National Defense^note  (López Mateos cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Idoelogy: Institutional Despotism^note 

• The Ace: His military experience in the Mexican Revolution is widely renowned, enough to get him promoted to Major General. He enjoyed similar success when he transitioned to electoral politics, being the only man in Mexican history to be a Governor of Baja California Sur (twice) and Baja California. Eventually, he became President of the National Executive Committee of the PRI and later got appointed Secretary of National Defense, two highly coveted and powerful positions.
• Dragon-in-Chief: Olachea is supposed to be assisting the interim governor of Guerrero, but he's really the one running the day-to-day businesses of the state.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He despises Barragán and his treacherous history. Though Barragán was readmitted to the army as a General, Oleachea distrusts him and considers his reappointment a disgrace to the PRI.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: Olachea is dissatisfied with the OFN and Sphere presence in Mexico, making deals with the corrupt politicians while the people suffer in the fields and factories. However, he remains loyal to the PRI regime out of a sense of duty to his country.
• Taught by Experience: A lot of Olachea's guiding principles in reforming the military are based on the ideas that drove his success with General Calles and the Air Force Modernization Plan. This means that he'll focus on borrowing lessons from past conflicts, granting new weapons to every arm of the military, and expanding military schooling to teach the latest doctrines and technologies.
• Undying Loyalty: Olachea's loyalty to the PRI is unshakeable, as proven when he suppressed two rebellions in 1923 and 1929.

Role: Under-Secretary of the Interior (López Mateos cabinet), Secretary of the Interior^note  (Ordaz, Salinas, and Madrazo cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• Ambition Is Evil: Echeverría is the quintessential PRI member. He's an ambitious and cunning schemer who's spent years cultivating his reputation as a skilled populist and security expert, allowing him to move up the hierarchy and become the Secretary of the Interior to López Mateos's successor. Being so high up the PRI ladder means abetting or participating in all of their heinous actions, but Echeverría lets most of it slide for the sake of his career.
• Beleaguered Bureaucrat: In Salinas' presidency, Echeverría will get overwhelmed. His desk is flooded with paperwork on how to prepare for the Olympics, and he can be chewed out by an unstressed López Mateos for not approving the Japanese workers' visas.
• Bystander Syndrome: When working for Madrazo, Echeverría is among the first to learn that there is a coalition within the PRI to undermine the President. Despite outwardly promising to look into this, Echeverría has no intention of stopping it because Madrazo is so divisive. For the time being, he'll lie in wait and see how the situation develops.
• Consummate Professional: His work is defined by diligence and cold efficiency, which is why he's so trusted by Ordaz and becomes the Secretary of the Interior to all of López Mateos' successors.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Echeverría works as the Undersecretary to Ordaz, making him the ministry's second-most powerful man and a close supporter of the latter's presidential bid. However, Echeverría is also willing to exploit Ordaz's unstable governance, increasing his power whenever Ordaz overreacts to an uprising like the Madera raid. His end goal is to become powerful enough to succeed Ordaz and make Mexico a prosperous country that can match the legacy of Hidalgo and Emperor Cuauhtémoc.
• Drowning My Sorrows: After being blamed for the Madera attack in Salinas' presidency, Echeverría copes by drinking heavily.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Echeverría gets offended if President Madrazo rejects his education reform proposal, but takes Paz's ideas instead. He's livid that the President would give greater stock to an unofficial advisor, so much so that he forms a tenuous alliance with Velázquez, in case of another argument with Paz.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Despite their political disagreements, Echeverría is promoted by Madrazo to be his Secretary of the Interior because both of them are loyal to the PRI and seemingly want to restore its original ideals.
  • He and Velázquez hate each other, but the two form a truce if Madrazo accepts Paz's education reform proposal. Thus, Echeverría will have a powerful ally the next time he gets into an argument with Paz.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His son, Álvaro, is a delinquent who drinks, starts fights and uses recreational narcotics, which concerns Echeverría. This motivates his crusade against the café cantantes in Madrazo's path, believing that they are peddling the aforementioned vices of his son.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Out of all of the PRI's injustices, Echeverría has little patience for their mistreatment of the Indigenous communities. He repeatedly undermines the party's effort to steal their land, and his sympathy for them puts him at odds with Salinas and Madrazo's patronizing views of the natives.
  • He's disgusted by del Rosal's willingness to endanger the ejidos if it means the government gets an advantage. To Echeverría, the ejidos are the backbone of the PRI and the government can't turn its back on them.
  • Echeverría is taken aback by President Ordaz's paranoia after the Madera raid, balking at his orders to harshly punish any and all dissidence. It's one of the few concerns that he shares with del Rosal and Manautou.
  • In his mind, Velázquez is a reprehensible opportunist, believing that he would sell out half of the country so that he could keep his position.
• Hidden Depths: Echeverría surprisingly likes the sound of a ticking clock, while he revels in the downfall of his enemies.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: President Ordaz's overblown response to the Madera raid permits Echeverría to increase his power in the administration, setting him as a serious successor to him, alongside del Rosal and Manautou. From then on, Echeverría plots to keep exploiting Ordaz's instability for his gain.
• Long Game: Echeverría's grand plan in the Ordaz presidency is to take advantage of his boss' moments of irrationality, slowly building up his power and relying on allies like Gutiérrez Barrios and Barragán, until he can become Ordaz's chosen successor.
• Moral Guardians: He organizes DFS spying operations in cafés to watch out for rock-and-roll bands, which he believes are pushing a crime wave in Mexico.
• Mouth of Sauron: In the wake of the Puebla riots, Echeverría is sent on the President's behalf to negotiate with the protest leaders and free their hostages.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Disgusted to hear of an abusive cacique murdering some Indigenous villagers, Echeverría can arrange his arrest. Then, Echeverría ensures that the villagers can keep their land by calling the Department of Tourism and bringing in a bunch of Americans to confuse the oil drilling operation, preventing del Rosal and PEMEX from expanding their reach there.
  • Echeverría honestly supports land reform for the peasants, which puts him at odds with technocrats like Salinas.
  • Of the many criticisms he has for President Salinas' Olympic Stadium model, Echeverría expresses disgust at his butchering of Nahua art in the design, calling it cultural appropriation.
  • Aghast by Madrazo's attempts to assimilate Mexico's indigenous areas, Echeverría convinces Beltrán to take a stand against this cruel policy and allow the native groups to keep their culture.
• Politically Correct Villain: Ruthless as he is, Echeverría has a surprising amount of sympathy for Mexico's Indigenous communities, often obstructing attempts to steal and develop their land, even when he has nothing to gain from it.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Regardless of whoever López Mateos' successor is, Echeverría will fawn over them, agreeing with their plans and complimenting that they are the best man for the presidency. In truth, he has no problem undermining or exploiting the President for his own gain, whether it be taking advantage of Ordaz's instability or withholding valuable information concerning Madrazo's enemies.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: After the attack at Ciudad Madera, Salinas dismisses Echeverría as Secretary of the Interior and exiles him as ambassador to Sri Lanka, from where he can complain but won't be heard.
• The Reliable One: Ordaz considers Echeverría to be one of his most reliable allies, feeling that he wouldn't be nearly as successful without his help.
• The Scapegoat: The GPG raid on Madera leaves 125 soldiers dead in Salinas' route, which is blamed on Echeverría.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • He doesn't get along with del Rosal in Ordaz's presidency, believing that his short-sighted recklessness is harming the PRI's interests.
  • His working relationship with Salinas becomes increasingly tense, as Echeverría hinders the Pacific trade through too many inspections and blocks the government's attempts to steal Indigenous land. Salinas is further frustrated by Echeverría's failure to suppress the GPG promptly. Eventually, it reaches a breaking point when Salinas arms the GPG so that he can discredit Echeverría's name.
• Villainous Breakdown: In Salinas' presidency, Echeverría has a meltdown when he gets blamed for the GPG attack on Madera, cursing and ranting at del Rosal when he delivers the news.
• What You Are in the Dark:
  • In front of Ordaz, Echeverría acts as his dutiful deputy and right-hand man. But when Ordaz's back is turned to him, Echeverría gleefully smiles because lapping up to Ordaz means climbing up the PRI ranks to satiate his lust for power.
  • The same goes for working with President Salinas, outwardly expressing confidence in his agenda while secretly plotting how he can use them for his own gain.
• Wild Card: Echeverría's loyalty extends as far as who will advance his career the most. This means he will work with any of López Mateos' successors because it's his ticket to climbing the PRI's ranks and possibly becoming President himself.
• You Cannot Kill An Idea: Echeverría gets demoted after the Madera raid in Salinas' presidency, but his calls for land reform do not cease, as other politicians like Villanueva vow to keep his rhetoric alive.

Role: Director of Federal Security, Secretary of the Interior^note  (Salinas cabinet - Echeverría demoted)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• Consummate Professional: He was one of the first DFS agents to be recruited by Alemán, tasked with capturing and then freeing Fidel Castro. Since joining the PRI, Gutiérrez Barrios has climbed the ranks of the DFS at an alarming pace, eventually put in charge of the agency and tasked with hunting down the party's enemies with absolute ruthlessness.
• Enemy Mine: The first time he met Castro, Gutiérrez Barrios was putting handcuffs on him in service to the Alemán regime. But the subsequent interrogation revealed that Castro was plotting a movement to overthrow Batista in Cuba, whom Gutiérrez Barrios also hated. Thus, Gutiérrez Barrios released Castro so he could depose Batista, and the two have become friends ever since.
• The Gloves Come Off: Gutiérrez Barrios claims that guerrilla activity has become an existential threat after the Madera raid. Thus, he suggests an overhaul of the DFS' techniques and increased coordination with the armed forces so they can take bolder action to prevent a revolution.
• Hidden Depths: Gutiérrez Barrios owns and rides a black mare, hoping that he can get better at it through consistent practice. At one point in Salinas' route, he rides alongside the President's thoroughbred to discuss the GPG threat.
• Odd Friendship: He's surprisingly good friends with Castro from Cuba, as Gutiérrez Barrios released him and helped kickstart the Cuban Revolution to oust Batista. The two are pleased to work together again, now focused on taking out Trujillo for the Puerto Plata invasion.
• Rags to Riches: Born to a poor Veracruz family, Gutiérrez Barrios rose to become head of the DFS and potentially Mexico's second-most powerful politician in Salinas' route.
• Undying Loyalty: He expresses full loyalty to President Salinas, helping him get rid of Echeverría and wage war on the party's old guard.
• We Have Become Complacent: Defied. In the face of rising guerrilla activity and dissidence after the Madera attack, Gutiérrez Barrios argues that the DFS' traditional strategies are becoming obsolete and need to adapt to the changing times. He specifically suggests adopting the modern counterinsurgency techniques used by the United States and Japan, requesting additional resources and reducing costs by reactivating the Portifirato-era detention and interrogation centers.
• You Are in Command Now: Invoked in Salinas' presidency. After Echeverría is blamed for the Madera raid, Gutiérrez Barrios is promoted to Secretary of the Interior. Salinas acts as though this were an unexpected development, but the public doesn't know that Salinas armed the attack, precisely so he could get the excuse needed to replace Echeverría.

Role: Ambassador of Mexico to the United States (López Mateos cabinet), Secretary of External Relations^note  (Ordaz cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• The Ace: Given his cheerful personality and commercial expertise, Flores is an invaluable diplomat for Mexico, who's built a strong web of connections to Washington D.C.
• Affably Evil: As a diplomat, Flores is a bright charmer who is willing to give 110% to his duties, even if he is covering for a Latin American dictatorship.
• Consummate Professional: He has a well-earned reputation for completing his jobs in a manner that exceeds expectations, due to how diligent he is. Flores is one of the few PRI members who will continue his assignments, even when the previous presidential administration is over.

Role: Secretary of Industry and Commerce^note  (Ordaz and Salinas cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• I Work Alone: When Ortiz Mena offers to help Campos Salas plan out Salinas' campaign, the latter shoots him a dirty look before insisting that he work alone. Salinas can barely defuse the argument by recontextualizing Ortiz Mena's request as a desire to coordinate their efforts.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Campos Salas and Ortiz Mena are supposed to work together in managing the economy for Ordaz and Salinas. However, they can hardly stand each other, as Ordaz Mena complains about Campos Salas' flagrant spending. Further, Campos Salas is more willing to attract American investments and open Mexico to global markets, compared to his partner.
• Vice President Who?: Campos Salas is often overshadowed by his superiors, but he's nonetheless a skilled economist who is entrusted to manage the economy, alongside Ortiz Mena in the Ordaz and Salinas cabinet.

Role: Secretary of National Defense^note  (Ordaz cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He has a history of disloyalty, all the way to the Mexican Revolution. When the Villistas were defeated in the Battle of Celaya, Barragán deserted Francisco Villa and joined Venustiano Carranza. He was later elected Governor of Jalisco but dismissed for a lack of commitment to the party. Then, in the 1950s, Barragán led a left-wing Henriquista movement, organizing a coup against Adolfo Ruiz Cortines.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Following his mental decline, President Ordaz orders his cabinet to start ramping up suppression efforts against anyone who dares criticize him or the PRI, something that unnerves Barragán as an excessive move.
• General Ripper: His crackdowns against dissidence are brutal and beyond uncalled for. For this reason, some PRI members like Cárdenas are reluctant to unleash him, if only because it will generate public backlash.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As President Ordaz's behavior becomes more erratic after the Madera raid, Barragán looks increasingly worried. Combined with Echeverría's concern, it's a sign of how badly Ordaz's mental state has deteriorated.
• Stupid Evil: Barragán can be deployed by President Madrazo to deal with the AMM and AMMRI, but Cárdenas is hesitant because Barragán is extremely violent. There's a good chance that he'll create such a mess that it reflects badly on the Madrazo administration, which can be the reason why Cárdenas puts some restraints on him.
• War Hero: Downplayed. He likes to portray himself as a decorated general and veteran of the Mexican Revolution, which hides his history of betrayal and anti-PRI opposition. He's been reinstated into the Army by López Mateos, but some like Olachea still distrust him.

Role: Secretary of External Relations^note  (Salinas cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• Affably Evil: He's remarkably charismatic and lighthearted, capable of sharing anecdotes and jokes to disarm people's suspicion. This can be useful in keeping the United States content with President Salinas' diplomacy with Japan.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Margáin can be the life of a party, but he gets serious when he needs to be and his charisma is why he's so effective as a diplomat who needs to coax people.
• Brutal Honesty: Margáin is a rare example of a PRI member who will challenge anyone, even the President, over a questionable policy that could hurt Mexico's sovereignty. He is so honest that Salinas can trust him to speak his mind whenever he's asked a question.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Though he wants to move Mexico away from the American sphere, he acknowledges that it's completely impossible to break ties with them. All he wants is to reduce Mexico's dependence on them, not completely shut out the Americans.
• The Reliable One: His charm and ties with the Americans make him a reliable pick to represent Mexico and lead its foreign ministry.

Role: Secretary of Hacienda and Public Credit^note  (López Mateos, Ordaz, Salinas, and Madrazo cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional - Alemanista^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• The Ace: Ortiz Mena is one of Mexico's most renowned economists and is often credited for creating the Mexican Miracle, for better or for worse.
• Brutal Honesty: He and Salinas agree that Mexico needs to urbanize and industrialize, but Ortiz Mena has enough experience and grit to challenge the President when they disagree. Though most of their meetings tend to turn into debates, Salinas appreciates Ortiz's willingness to speak his mind.
• The Creon: Though Ortiz Mena is one of the most powerful figures in the Alemanista faction, he is uncomfortable holding political power and prefers to let the power-hungry Salinas lead the faction instead.
• The Determinator: As a pessimist, he sometimes feels discouraged by his setbacks, but he carries on and remains determined to transform Mexico into an economic powerhouse, no matter how unlikely that future may be.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When Salinas' presidency is forced to reach out to Alemán for help, Ortiz Mena feels sick that they have to deal with an infamously corrupt former President and let him influence politics after his term.
• The Quiet One: He doesn't enjoy a public spotlight, working more comfortably in the private confines of his office.
• The Reliable One: Ortiz Mena has a tried-and-true economic strategy called Stabilizing Development, which consistently delivers economic growth, fiscal rectitude, strong currency, and price stability. His steadiness and expertise make him widely trusted throughout Mexico to get the job done and convince other nations to lend money to further Mexico's economic growth.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Ortiz Mena works under Ordaz and Salinas' administration, but he has a tumultuous relationship with Campos Salas, thinking him too smug and argumentative to harmoniously work with.

Role: President of the National Executive Committee of the PRI (López Mateos cabinet), Secretary of National Patrimony (Ordaz cabinet), Head of the Department of the Federal District (Ordaz cabinet - Uruchurtu fired, Madrazo cabinet), Secretary of National Defense^note  (Salinas cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• Consolation Prize: Del Rosal is made Regent of the Federal District by President Madrazo as a concession to appease the old guard, which is better than letting a technocrat like Uruchurtu keep privileging the upper and middle class over the poor.
• Dragon with an Agenda: While del Rosal supports Ordaz and the Old Guard, he also hopes to expand his power and become a President himself.
• Enemy Mine: Out of a shared disdain for Echeverría, del Rosal allies with Manautou to stop him from potentially succeeding President Ordaz.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Del Rosal is disturbed when President Ordaz goes ballistic from the Madera raid, comparing his merciless repressions to the cruelty indulged by the Porfiriato. He agrees with Manautou that they cannot let such a thing happen again.
  • In Salinas' route, del Rosal shares Ordaz's disgust when the President engineers the Madera raid and scapegoats Echeverría for it, betraying the PRI in the process. Together, the two work on building an anti-Salinas alliance to stop the President's future attempts at taking over the party.
• Internal Reformist: Under Salinas, del Rosal is given the high-stakes job of modernizing the military, as the President expects that his combat experience and commendations will ensure the reforms are carried out smoothly.
• The Leader: Downplayed. Del Rosal is technically the president and most powerful man in the PRI, commanding their members and militants, and wielding connections to the military. However, del Rosal is loyal to the presidency and leadership of the CTM; he mostly uses his position to strengthen the PRI Old Guard and support Ordaz's presidential bid.
• Leeroy Jenkins: When the prospect of a new oil field is brought up, del Rosal is eager to drill it, despite the ongoing property dispute in that area and the likely backlash that will be drawn from the Indigenous peasants. The government intrusion could worsen the conflict, but del Rosal doesn't care and says that his military experience will put down any complications.
• The Millstone: To crack down on illegal drugs and alcohol, del Rosal commands several police raids on cafés where they are used. However, Echeverría points out that these operations—which happened without his consent—are hindering the DFS' infiltration into criminal organizations in those cafés, which may be enough for Ordaz to intervene. However, this will just make del Rosal even angrier, who doubles down with a mandate that the Federal District Police work with the DFS in arresting people for the pettiest crimes.
• Moral Guardians: He hates rock-and-roll as a perverse music genre linked to the crime and illegal drug trade plaguing Mexico. His disdain extends as far as ordering police raids on cafés where rock bands play and arresting people for petty instances of drug possession.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: He's not too enthusiastic about working for President Salinas, but he knows that the Mexican Army needs to be modernized, so he sets aside his grievances and follows his orders.
• Never My Fault: Del Rosal takes no responsibility for the poverty and crime wave that hits the Federal District under Ordaz's presidency. When Uruchurtu points this out, del Rosal dismisses the accusation by claiming he also played a role in this problem and wants Uruchurtu harshly reprimanded.
• Old Soldier: Del Rosal is a veteran of numerous wars and uprisings from 1923 to 1929 even writing multiple books on military morale. Given his experience, he entered politics in 1938 as a representative for the military in multiple positions, eventually rising to Congress in Camacho's presidency.
• Plain Palate: He eats as if he's still in the barracks. When President Madrazo meets him to give a cabinet appointment, del Rosal has a plain sandwich and a pot of coffee for breakfast.
• Rank Up: He first entered politics in a few minor roles and as a member of the National Propaganda Committee, which supported Camacho's presidency. Gradually, he would climb up the ranks, serving multiple cabinet positions for Camacho and being a congressman from 1940 to 1943, a senator from 1946 to 1952, and Governor of Hidalgo from 1957 to 1958. He eventually became president of the party in 1958 and is now one of Mexico's most powerful politicians.
• Reconcile the Bitter Foes: As more people call for the sidelining of Salinas after the Kabuki Crisis, del Rosal calls for a pact between Ordaz and Madrazo so they can oppose the technocrat and foil his plans to keep conducting diplomacy with the Sphere. Ordaz dismisses Madrazo as a childish idealist, and Madrazo dislikes Ordaz for being needlessly ruthless, but both hate Salinas enough to agree to a truce.
• The Reliable One: Del Rosal is a close ally of Ordaz and can be counted on for many things. Notably, del Rosal has a keen interest in building a metro system for Mexico City. Sharing the same idea, President Ordaz makes him regent of the Federal District to replace the obstructive Uruchurtu.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In the Ordaz administration, del Rosal gets into repeated disputes with Echeverría over matters like where PEMEX can drill oil or when the DFS should be raiding cafés for illegal drugs.
• Villainous Friendship: He and Ordaz are personal friends, which makes del Rosal a natural choice for the latter's presidential cabinet.

Role: Secretary of External Relations^note  (Madrazo cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• The Ace: He has a long history as a successful diplomat and philanthropist, making his job look easier than it is.
• The Power of Friendship: Invoked. His foreign policy emphasizes Latin American unity against foreign imperialism.
• Team Switzerland: Robles will maintain ties among Mexico's stronger neighbors, but refuse to explicitly side with one of them. When Madrazo becomes President, Robles is chosen as Secretary of External Relations for this reason, as he can maintain Mexico's neutral foreign policy between the United States and Japan.

Role: Secretary of Public Works^note  (López Mateos, Salinas, and Madrazo cabinet)

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• The Ace: Naturally talented, he's recognized as the most skilled engineer in Mexico if not all of Latin America. He co-founded one of the world's best engineering firms, won acclaim for his lectures, pioneered a lot of the doctrines used in the field, and is trusted to handle many of Mexico's projects, like their Olympics preparations. Since President Madrazo is focusing on public works, Barros is a natural pick for his cabinet.
• Enemy Mine: Barros is slightly receptive to President Salinas' offered truce. He says that the citizens need social programs and believes that their political differences can be set aside for this common goal.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Barros doesn't see the point in monitoring or shutting down the café cantantes in Madrazo's presidency. He claims that the youth should be allowed to do what they want, only expressing interest in punishing those who commit major crimes at those locations.
  • As Presidency Madrazo furiously rants about the Madera raid, Barros is the most outspoken member of his cabinet to advise calmness. He says that a petty attack doesn't warrant a violent response, and suggests that the raid is a sign that they need to do more reforms. Unfortunately, Madrazo is too angry to listen to his friend's counsel, especially when Cárdenas is simultaneously encouraging vengeance.
• The Gift: His expertise in engineering is so extraordinary that it's like second nature to him. Notably, he doesn't like bragging about it too much, chalking it up to "lazy talent".
• Internal Reformist: As Madrazo's Secretary of Public Works, Barros is tasked with building a strong welfare system for all Mexicans, planning the administration's many public works and social programs.
• Nice Guy: He's remarkably humble, cares deeply about the public well-being, and even sympathizes with guerrillas fighting against the PRI's dictatorship. Recognized as the conscience of the party, he's almost too benevolent for the PRI.
• Short-Lived Leadership: In Ordaz's administration, Barros is appointed as IMP Director-General, but this job doesn't last longer than a month before he accepts a UNAM offer to be their rector.
• Token Good Teammate: Barros participates in the PRI's dictatorial system, but he earnestly believes in enshrining human rights and public welfare, even more so than Madrazo. When the Madera raid happens in Madrazo's presidency, Barros is among the loudest voices defending the GPG's actions, believing that their grievances were well-founded and futilely urging Madrazo to not use violence against them.

Role: Secretary of National Defense^note  (Madrazo cabinet)

Party: Movimiento de Liberación Nacional^note 

Ideology: Left-Wing Nationalism^note , Institutional Despotism^note  (Madrazo cabinet)

• Affluent Ascetic: His political ideology is centered around fighting wealth inequality, and he reflects this by living in a modest home.
• The Corruptor: While Castro inspired Cárdenas' reentry into Mexican politics to break the PRI's dictatorial hold, Cárdenas also acts as an advisor to Castro who can sway him into consolidating power and creating a dictatorship aligned and modeled after the PRI.
• Defector from Decadence: Cárdenas strongly opposed the platform of Alemán and tried to steer the party back to the left, helping kill a plan by Alemán to amend the constitution and get more terms. By 1957, his opposition pushed him out of the PRI, though Cárdenas' manifesto lives on in the Cardenistas still in the party, while Cárdenas himself has formed the MLN opposition party. However, he still acts as an advisor to the few supporters he has left in the PRI.
• The Determinator: His efforts to challenge the CNC ultimately fail, due to the controversy of his refusal to run in the 1964 election and López Mateos' siccing of the DFS on them. Though dispirited by this latest defeat, Cárdenas does not give up fighting for the peasants' well-being, no matter who López Mateos' successor is.
• Enemy Mine: He's not keen on working with the PRI reformists, given that the party turned away from his left-wing beliefs, but he ultimately takes the opportunity for President Madrazo so that his administration can succeed and not let the country fall into the hands of the technocrats. In Cárdenas' mind, anyone is a better President than Salinas, and it scares him to know that he came close to succeeding López Mateos.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He could never imagine doing diplomacy with Nazi Germany. Notably, of all the things that Camacho did, Cárdenas will never forgive his refusal to not side with the Allies in World War II and stop Hitler when Mexico had the chance.
• Honor Before Reason: One reason why he refuses to work with the CNC is because it's a corrupt system that better serves the party and the landowners over the peasants, even if they could provide a larger platform for the MLN.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Establishing the Tapadismo system of Presidents appointing their successors, Cárdenas wanted to stabilize the PRI by picking the more conservative Camacho as his successor over the more popular, left-leaning Francisco Mugica. He hoped that Camacho would be on the same accord as him, but this would lock the PRI into a right-wing turn that Cárdenas could not stop. The rising threat of the right, combined with conservative general Almazan mobilizing a significant opposition movement to him, led Cárdenas to crack down on his enemies, destroying his dream of free elections in Mexico and planting the seeds for a dictatorship that would abandon Cárdenas' original goals.
• Hypocrite: Cárdenas is one of the most famous participants in the Mexican Revolution, fighting the military dictatorship of Huerta and even starting a political career from it, which would culminate in a presidency. Despite this, Cárdenas shares President Madrazo's indignation at the GPG raid on Madera, agreeing to use full military action against them.
• Internal Reformist:
  • As Governor of Michoacán from 1928-1932 and President of Mexico from 1934-1940, Cárdenas made wide-scale social and economic reforms, like education and the collectivization of land into ejidos (state-run farms). His Six Year Plan also dismantled the latifunds and haciendas, creating a corporatist economic system that displaced foreign businesses and enacted popular nationalizations of petroleum and rail.
  • Subverted with the MLN. Cárdenas rejects the idea of applying for the CNC because he doesn't want any part in their corrupt system. He believes that it would be a waste of time to change the PRI apparatus, in which the MLN's time is better served working for more long-term agrarian reforms and showing the peasants that their lives can be improved without the CNC monopoly.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Cárdenas celebrated the Cuban Revolution and personally visited Castro, inspiring him to restart his political activities back in Mexico, even if it will attract the suspicion of the DFS and Mexican government.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Cárdenas is a strict anti-clerical himself, but he saw a need for reconciliation with the church and a rollback of the state's harshest militant atheist policies so that Mexico could recover.
• Minor Major Character: By 1962, Cárdenas has left the PRI to found the MLN, and doesn't play a major role in politics anymore. However, his first presidency from 1934-1940 left an enormous impact on Mexican history, which is still felt decades later.
  • Cárdenas made an alliance with Vicente Lombardo Toledano, bringing the CTM into the party (then known as the PNR) and requiring all union members to join the PNR. Subsequently, Cárdenas united the agrarian leagues into the CNC, effectively monopolizing the workers and the peasants into arms of the federal government. This led to the creation of the reigning Mexican corporatist system, and the CTM and CNC are still active corporations. Its birth also marked the reincarnation of the PNR into the PRM, which would later be converted into the PRI.
  • His nationwide collectivization program created the ejidos, a system of collective agriculture that's still in use in the 1960s, albeit strained by corruption and inefficiency.
  • Oil and various other industries were nationalized in his presidency, creating prominent state corporations like PEMEX.
  • His attempt to appoint a successor incited a lot of violence in the 1940 election, causing Cárdenas to strengthen the security state and unknowingly plant the seeds for the PRI dictatorship.
• Moral Guardians: In Madrazo's presidency, Cárdenas advocates for a campaign against the café cantantes, claiming that they are corrupting the youth with American culture and encouraging all sorts of delinquencies so that the victims become "shallow materialists".
• My Greatest Failure: Cárdenas is a man full of regrets, for, despite the achievements he accomplished, his actions as President still lead to the creation of the PRI and what he sees as the ultimate betrayal of revolutionary ideals.
• The Puppet Cuts His Strings: Cárdenas was handpicked to be President by Calles in 1934, as the latter hoped to exploit the latter's popularity into a puppet leader, by which Calles would remain in power through a system of Maximato. However, the instability of the following year allowed Cárdenas to politically outmaneuver Calles and coup him, forcing Calles into exile and freeing Cárdenas to enact his leftist policies.
• The Reliable One: In terms of anti-guerrilla campaigns, President Madrazo trusts no one more than Cárdenas to get the job done, thanks to his decades of experience.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Many of his Zapatista comrades were killed by Huerta during the Mexican Revolution, setting him on a mission to avenge their deaths by joining Villa's Northern Division.
• Short-Lived Leadership:
  • Cárdenas was briefly President of the PNR in 1930 but resigned in 1931 due to his opposition to Calles' tight control over the party.
  • He once was Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of War and Marine for two months and five months, respectively.
• Start My Own:
  • After leaving the PRI in 1957, Cárdenas saw the party violently suppress strikes in 1958 and 1959. Disgusted, Cárdenas formed a new party, the Movement of National Liberation, in 1961, hosting a broad tent of leftists to challenge the PRI. However, they are relatively weak and start as a minor thorn in the PRI's side.
  • Sick of the CNC's neglect of the peasants, Cárdenas creates the CCI in opposition to them, which will push for the land reforms that the PRI used to do. Notably, López Mateos calls an emergency meeting for this because the PRI is facing a genuine threat to their authority.
• Team Switzerland: Cárdenas largely maintained Mexico's neutral foreign policy, but he was hostile to Europe's fascist powers, supported the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, and condemned Japan's expansionism. He floated the idea of joining World War II on the side of the Allies and advocated this while serving as Secretary of National Defense under Camacho.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He's invited to work with the PRI in Madrazo's presidency and appointed as Secretary of National Defense. However, Cárdenas hasn't forgotten his falling out with the PRI, ever since they turned more to the right, meaning he has a tense relationship with the entire party.
• 10-Minute Retirement: Cárdenas made multiple vows to retire from national politics, as President or as Secretary of National Defense in 1945. Each time, he would return shortly after in reaction to some domestic development.
• War Hero: Cárdenas is widely celebrated for his military service during the Mexican Revolution, distinguished for his leadership and tactical expertise. One of his biggest achievements was leading a Zapatista group in 1913 and serving under Calles to defend Sonora from Villa, crack down on Yaqui separatists, and secure his home state of Michoacán.
• We Used to Be Friends: Cárdenas and Camacho once fought together in the Mexican Revolution, until the latter became President and marked the party's rightward shift. Seeing his legacy and original vision being torn apart, Cárdenas became a bitter rival to Camacho.
• Wild Card: During the Mexican Revolution, Cárdenas fought against Huerta's regime and joined the Constitutionalist army of Álvaro Obregón before defecting to Pancho Villa. Then, Cárdenas defected to Plutarco Elias Calles, defending the city of Sonora against Villa.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Though he was a founding member of the PNR, he dissolved the organization later on because their warlordism was hindering Mexico's economic growth and institutional development, and allowed them to rebel each time a new President was inaugurated. They were replaced with the PRM in 1938.

Role: Head of the Department of the Federal District (López Mateos and Ordaz cabinet), Secretary of Communications and Transport (Salinas cabinet)

• Broken Pedestal: Uruchurtu is a respected name in Mexico City for the many public works and infrastructure projects he built. However, President Ordaz can tarnish that reputation by organizing a strike in the capital, inconveniencing everyone's lives and scapegoating Uruchurtu for it. As a result, some people believe that Uruchurtu has lost his touch and start thinking that Ordaz's metro plan has merit.
• Corrupt Politician: Given his 12 years of experience in the Department of the Federal District, he was bound to become this. Upon a DFS investigation ordered by President Ordaz, they discover that Uruchurtu fudged a bidding war over his public works projects, handing their contracts to some construction firms before others could place a bid. In turn, the rewarded firms gave financial kickbacks and favors to Uruchurtu and his clique. Even though this type of corruption is nothing spectacular in the context of PRI politics, it's still illegal and Ordaz uses it as an excuse to make him resign.
• The Creon: Uruchurtu is generally content to keep working in the Federal District and facilitating the urbanization of Mexico.
• Defiant to the End: When offered a "promotion" to a powerless office by President Ordaz, Uruchurtu curses him at the cost of his job. Uruchurtu's only regret is that he can't realize the plans he had for Mexico City, and is otherwise glad to have blown up on Ordaz.
• Dragon with an Agenda:
  • Uruchurtu works under Ordaz's presidency, but still vehemently opposes the idea of a metro system because he needs to protect his allied transport unions and prevent an urban sprawl that he would be unable to tax. If there is any chance of a metro system being built by the time of the Olympics, Uruchurtu will have to be convinced to stand down, either by promotion, blackmail, or public pressure.
  • When Salinas offers him a job as Secretary of Communications and Transport, Uruchurtu is a little hesitant, but ultimately accepts on the condition that he's given a free hand, can influence the Olympics infrastructure, and has a trustworthy Regent to take over his former duties.
• Enemy Mine: Having long opposed a metro in Mexico City, Uruchurtu is disturbed when Madrazo becomes President and del Rosal announces construction of the aforementioned project. Meeting Heroles, he can potentially get a job at the CNOP so that he can pull his connections and influence the capital's development, while Heroles gets to exploit his popularity and keep the party united.
• Glass Cannon: As regent of the Federal District, Uruchurtu has a lot of authority over Mexico City's infrastructure projects. However, his power only matters so long as the President supports him. When Ordaz becomes President, he can easily fire Uruchurtu for refusing to support his metro system idea.
• Kicked Upstairs: Subverted. President Ordaz can unofficially remove him as an obstacle by promoting him to an office where he can't speak against his metro system idea. Specifically, Uruchurtu is promoted to Ambassador to Canada or given a position at CAPUFE. However, Uruchurtu loudly calls out Ordaz's ulterior motives and denounces him, infuriating the President enough to fire him outright.
• Magnum Opus: Developing Mexico City has been one of his life's greatest achievements, and he basks in this fact during the 10th anniversary of being Regent.
• A Man Is Always Eager: Subverted. Whatever his faults, Uruchurtu is not a pervert. When President Ordaz tries to scrounge up dirt to make him resign, the DFS can't find anything in his private life, so they grab a lookalike and photograph him entering and exiting a brothel as a frame-up.
• Moral Guardians: In charge of developing Mexico City, Uruchurtu bulldozed the city's brothels and gambling halls, which he considers a blessing.
• Pet the Dog: Despite his enmity with Ordaz's presidency, he will nonetheless be thankful if they stop the Federal District's crime wave with increased policing in the city center. He makes an unexpected visit to del Rosal's office to give his compliments and shake his hand, baffling his successor.
• Red Baron: He's known as the "Iron Regent" for the immense power he wields, perhaps more power than what he actually has.
• Resigned in Disgrace: Defied. President Ordaz can blackmail Uruchurtu to resign if the DFS investigates the latter. The DFS can create a scandal by probing for financial corruption or framing Uruchturu for visiting a brothel. In exchange, Ordaz won't make the information public, so Uruchurtu begrudgingly takes the deal.
• Secretly Selfish: He's long opposed the idea of a metro for the Federal District, ostensibly because trams are a more effective means to reduce traffic, and a metro would be an expensive waste that would worsen the city's urban sprawl. In truth, most of his outward complaints are either not true or can easily be resolved. He's really opposed to the metro because his allies in the transport unions would hate it, and he would be unable to tax the urban sprawl that would extend beyond the Federal District's borders.
• Villain with Good Publicity: As Regent, Uruchurtu has worked hard to develop Mexico City and transform it into a prospering urban center. Thus, a lot of the city's residents celebrate his name.

Role: Senator of Tamaulipas, Secretary of the Presidency (Ordaz and Salinas cabinet)

• Enemy Mine:
  • Manautou makes a truce with del Rosal in case President Ordaz dies and needs a successor. They agree that Echeverría cannot be allowed near the presidency and plot to stop his potential ascension when the time comes.
  • When Salinas becomes President, Manautou is among the many reformists who join his side, believing that his technocratic policies can help them achieve their common goals.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Manautou balks at Echeverría's suggestion to blackmail Uruchurtu into supporting the metro system, suggesting that they do something less corrupt.
  • If the DFS are sent to scrounge up dirt on Uruchurtu, Manautou will also feel disgusted by the idea of trying to find out if he visited a brothel and betrayed his social conservative ideas.
  • President Ordaz impulsively approves a series of harsh government repressions against the populace in response to the Madera raid. Manautou is disconcerted by his reckless cruelty, sharing del Rosal's concern that Ordaz cannot repeat this in the future.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Of all of Ordaz's main ministers, Manautou has the most scruples, often advocating a lighter hand to the challenges they face.
• Only Sane Man: On the matter of rock-and-roll bands in Ordaz's presidency, Manautou is the only one who recognizes that their musicians are no threat to Mexico and a waste of time to go after. If given charge of organizing security meetings, he chides Echeverría and del Rosal for focusing on these musicians when they could've dedicated those resources to the dissidents who pose an actual threat to the party.
• Undying Loyalty: Manautou is one of Ordaz's few allies to not join Salinas when he is going to succeed López Mateos. He tells Ordaz that he's still disgusted by Salinas' machinations against him and thinks about refusing the offer to become Secretary of the Presidency. It's only when Ordaz tells him to take it that Manautou does so.
• Villainous Friendship: Manautou is Ordaz's best friend. Even though Manautou is less conservative than him, he's unfailingly loyal to him, which Ordaz can reward by making him Secretary of the Presidency.

Role: President of the National Executive Committee of the PRI (Ordaz cabinet - Madrazo resignation), Secretary of the Presidency (Madrazo cabinet)

• Action Politician: Part of the reason why Madrazo trusts him is because they've had a long history of campaigning together and getting their hands dirty, demonstrating that Ortega isn't just a pencil-pusher.
• Honor Before Reason: Ortega is seemingly committed to reforming the PRI in Ordaz's presidency. Even when he faces backlash from the corrupt Governors and is warned to slow down, Ortega refuses to listen, telling Madrazo that they can't stop now if they want to save the PRI.
• Internal Reformist: In Ordaz's path, he works with Madrazo to help reform the PRI, namely returning power to the CEN in the first phase, and then democratizing the party through a primary system and sidelining the corrupt oligarchs and careerists in the second phase. However, it's later Subverted, when Ortega takes advantage of Madrazo's resignation to steal his job and repeal all of their reforms. Madrazo realizes that Ortega's reforms were ploys set up by Ordaz to backfire until Madrazo is removed from office and Ortega can take over.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: In Ordaz's route, his suggested reforms to Madrazo are intended to backfire on the reformists, as part of his collusion with the President. As soon as the reformists are sidelined and Madrazo resigns, Ortega eagerly takes over his old friend's position to gain more power for himself.
• The Reliable One: Subverted. Ortega is one of Madrazo's closest allies, working together in Ordaz's presidency to pass their shared reforms. However, Ortega is colluding with Ordaz to sabotage the reforms, secretly plotting to replace Madrazo.
• The Starscream: Ortega poses as an ally to Madrazo in Ordaz's presidency, hoping to one day betray him and take his position. After Ordaz goes paranoid and Madrazo resigns, Ortega reveals his true colors, takes up Madrazo's job, and announces a complete repeal of all the reforms built up to this point.
• We Used to Be Friends: He and Madrazo start off as close allies and friends, believing that they had a shared goal of reforming the PRI. However, that relationship ends in Ordaz's presidency, where Ortega betrays Madrazo.

Role: PEMEX Director, President of the National Executive Committee of the PRI (Salinas and Madrazo cabinet)

• Affably Evil: For a man who participates in the PRI's heinous activities, he's quite personable in conversation with his colleagues.
• Bookworm: His office has an absurd number of books, many of which were written by himself.
• Conspicuous Consumption: Heroles lives in a decadent manor, filled with expensive furniture, walls, and paintings. It stands out from the poverty permeating Veracruz, and Salinas is impressed enough by the display of wealth to consider doing it himself.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Heroles is the director of PEMEX, a state-owned oil company that profits off of the PRI's dictatorial apparatus and relies on small villages being cleared out so that their land can be drilled.
• Enemy Mine:
  • President Salinas offers a truce to the reformists so they can work together, and Heroles accepts it. He's dissatisfied with the inefficient state of the CNOP and believes that the technocrats and reformists would greatly benefit from the cooperation.
  • As del Rosal announces construction on a metro in Mexico City, Uruchurtu demands a job at the CNOP from Heroles, claiming that the city desperately needs his help with their development. Heroles can comply because, regardless of their political disagreements, Uruchurtu is popular and can keep the PRI united.
• Even Evil Has Loved O Nes: Before Madrazo appoints him as President of the CEN, he sees Heroles playing with his two sons.
• Honor Before Reason: He revives the graduated income tax proposal in Madrazo's presidency, which attracts a lot of negative attention. Despite the heat, Heroles can go through with the idea without compromise, focused on making the rich pay for Madrazo's sweeping welfare reforms. Further, when the rich find a loophole to get around this tax, Heroles can fix this exploit and risk even greater backlash.
• Jack of All Trades: His moderate reformist stance makes him useful to President Salinas in combatting his many enemies. He's sympathetic enough to Salinas' technocratic ideas to fight the PRI's old guard, but still harsh enough against the unions to stand against rebellious workers or Velázquez.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: On the subject of extracting oil with Ordaz and the IMP, Heroles gets unusually excited about recommending Sierra for the job. The IMP is his prized creation, and he believes that Sierra has the academic, practical, and ruthlessly pragmatic experience to do so.
• Repressive, but Efficient: Downplayed. He approves of a more democratic and open party, but he's willing to work alongside dictators like Salinas, utilizing his administrative and bureaucratic expertise as President of the CEN.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Heroles is quite popular among the people, which is one reason why Salinas invites him to his cabinet.

Role: Secretary of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (Salinas cabinet)

• Lack of Empathy: He wants to change the ejido system so that only the most productive ones are awarded with government aid, apathetic to those who will be stuck in perpetual poverty.
• Living Legend: Loyo González is a maestro with statistics, and this legendary reputation is why Salinas is eager to invite him to his cabinet.

Role: Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare (Salinas cabinet)

• Faux Affably Evil: He can put up a charming facade in front of a sympathetic crowd, but opposing him is a great way to rile him up. When the Zacatecas metalworkers' union removes their CTM-affiliated leader, Chumacero suffers a meltdown, going on incoherent rants and cursing the workers as "synarchist GPG subversives".
• Hidden Depths: Despite being a high school dropout and a terrible project manager, Chumacero knows how to invigorate people with a public speech. When Madrazo stirs protests in Nayarit, Chumacero can defuse the situation on his own and get the people to turn on Madrazo.
• The Load: Chumacero is a spendthrift on his projects, which is incompatible with Salinas' focus on government efficiency. The only reason why Chumacero is in his cabinet is because Salinas owes a favor to Velázquez.
• Money Dumb: Whenever he's assigned to a project, Chumacero has a bad habit of going over the budget for unnecessary flourishes, like building luxurious union halls. Since President Salinas is focused on government efficiency, he repeatedly expresses frustration over Chumacero.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: As President Salinas' hold over the country tightens after the Madera raid, he gets rid of Chumacero by reassigning him as a CTM representative to one of Quintana Roo's ejidos.
• The Social Expert: He might not be as educated or book-smart as the technocrats, but he knows how to talk to laymen who wouldn't get numbers or data. He can make jokes and charm audiences into obedience to Salinas' administration.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Given Chumacero's habit of going over the budget, Salinas would normally want nothing to do with him, but he's forced to bring him into his cabinet as an owed favor to Velázquez. The two repeatedly butt heads over Chumacero's uncontrolled spending, as Salinas tries to restrain him. Salinas can even try to embolden a metalworkers' union so that Chumacero gets blamed for the crisis.
• Villain with Good Publicity: If Chumacero breaks up the Zacatecas strikers, the factory managers will start to respect him, to the point of arguable hero worship.
• Villainous Breakdown: Chumacero loses it when the Zacatecas metalworkers' union ousts their CTM-appointed boss and hosts their own election. He screams about how these "Nazi communists" are destroying the country and devolves into profane ranting if the union is riled up by Salinas.

Role: Secretary General of the CNC (Salinas cabinet)

• Chekhov's Gunman: He's first seen in López Mateos' presidency, announcing one of the CNC's new programs and promising more aid to the peasants. Villanueva becomes a more significant character in Salinas' route, where he's leading the anti-Salinas charge to undermine the President and replace him.
• Pet the Dog:
  • In López Mateos' final year, Villanueva presents a significant agricultural bill that will either commit to more land reform or educate farmers on the latest tools to increase their harvests.
  • Amidst Salinas' purges after the Madera raid, Villanueva risks his career to spare his men from the crackdowns, meaning that the CNC suffers relatively little compared to others who weren't so fortunate.
• The Starscream: Villanueva is chosen by President Salinas' enemies to run for the next election and undermine the technocrats, getting the endorsement of Ordaz, del Rosal, Velázquez, and Moyo Palencia.
• Superior Successor: Compared to his humiliated predecessor, Villanueva shows more promise as the CNC's Secretary General in Salinas' presidency. He's built a strong network when working in the Secretariat of the Interior and has Echeverría's full backing.

Role: Deputy Secretary General of the CNC (Salinas cabinet)

• The Dragon: Moya is the deputy to Villanueva, and part of his conspiracy to oppose Salinas.
• Taught by Experience: Invoked. Villanueva subscribes to the notion that the CNC personnel need to be attuned to the "Revolution's peasant soul", so Moya is sent out of the Federal District to do his job.

Role: General Director of the National Indigenous Institute (Madrazo cabinet)

• Authority in Name Only: He's supposed to be head of the National Indigenous Institute, but it's mostly a ceremonial position because he can't do much to stop Madrazo from assimilating Mexico's Indigenous groups. Beltrán can't veto any of Madrazo's proposals and can only delay it at best.
• Forced into Evil: If it were up to him, Beltrán wouldn't sign off on Madrazo's indigenous development plans and oppress those communities. However, his post has little actual power to oppose the President, so he has to go along with it. The most resistance he can offer is getting Echeverría to stop Madrazo.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Beltrán might work for the PRI, but he is one of their few members to have moral qualms about their abuse of Mexico's Indigenous people, trying his best to delay Madrazo's attempts to forcibly assimilate them.

Role: Undersecretary of Culture (Madrazo cabinet)

• The Determinator: Carlos Fuentes warns Octavio Paz that joining the PRI is bound to corrupt him and advises that he leave the party as soon as possible. However, Paz refuses to listen, willing to risk his character for a chance at fixing the PRI.
• Internal Reformist: Paz joins Madrazo because he has faith that they can reform the party away from its history of corruption and lies.
• So Proud of You: Paz gives a speech to the Ciudad Universitaria campus of UNAM, expressing his pride in their determination and proclaiming that their school is creating a better future for Mexico, one based on education and self-discovery.

Role: Secretary of Public Education (Madrazo cabinet)

• Et Tu, Brute?: As an old friend of Madrazo, he's surprised when the President edits his original education reform to adopt Echeverría's suggestions. Feeling betrayed by a friend, he vows that he will not help Madrazo the next time he needs help.
• Internal Reformist: Gómez is given a blank check by Madrazo to extensively reform the education system, introducing amendments like ideological screenings for teachers.
• Old Friend: Gómez and Madrazo have a long history together, as the former ran for President against Alemán and the latter supported him. Even when Madrazo was imprisoned for this, he refused to denounce Gómez, affirming how deep their friendship is. Decades later, they're still in touch with each other, and Gómez can be invited to join Madrazo's presidential cabinet.
• Pet the Dog: Gómez will appreciate Madrazo if his original education reform isn't edited. He privately pledges his allegiance to the President and promises to be a firm ally for any future troubles that Madrazo faces.
• Villainous Friendship: Gómez's friendship with Madrazo has lasted for decades. Depending on what Madrazo does with Gómez's education reform, that friendship can potentially be reaffirmed, guaranteeing Madrazo a useful and reliable ally for the future.

Role: Secretary of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (Madrazo cabinet)

• Internal Reformist: At the insistence of one of his audience members, Segura can modernize the agricultural curriculum given to the ejidos, even if the CNC will disapprove of this.
• No Sympathy: Segura is apathetic to the Catholics' complaints about yams being used to make contraceptive pills. If anything, he agrees with Madrazo's plan to create their own chemical plants to produce the pill.
• Unwanted Assistance: Segura tries to tell the peasants about new techniques and technologies they can use to farm with, but his audience is mostly skeptical of his advice. In the peasants' minds, they don't need to change the methods they've relied upon for over eighty years.

Role: General Secretary of the Confederation of Mexican Workers

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• Corrupt Politician: Velázquez, a power-hungry oligarch whose only desire is to hold on to his power and profit, controls the Confederation of Mexican Workers and its millions of members alongside a legion of crooked politicians from the smallest town to the federal government. Luis Echeverría remarks that he would probably be willing to sell half the country if it meant keeping his own seat warm, and then the remaining half just for the sake of it. If there's such a man that acts as the centre of the rot that festers deep within the Mexican state, then that man is unquestionably Fidel Velázquez.
• The Creon: Velázquez could make a play for the presidency, but he prefers to rule the CTM as a less public figure, a position that he intends to hold until death.
• Enemy Mine: He has a mutually cold relationship with Echeverría, but the two hate Paz even more. If President Madrazo takes Paz's education reform, Velázquez and Echeverría will ally, so they can take on Paz for the next argument.
• The Man Behind the Man: When Salinas becomes President, Velázquez forces him to bring Chumacero into his cabinet, as part of their deal during the Nava Crisis. With Chumacero acting as his proxy, Velázquez can exert his influence in the administration, sending indirect CTM demands for the new President.
• Motive Decay: Velázquez used to participate in unionist activity and was involved in socialist groups, but he slowly became more opportunistic over time and abandoned his ideological beliefs so that he could integrate the CTM into the PRI's political machine. The point of no return was becoming General Secretary in 1941 and working with President Camacho to erode the CTM's ideological wing, all so that he could climb the ranks in national politics. Since then, his one goal has been to remain on top of the CTM and the PRI by extension, while making a tidy profit from it all and keeping himself untouchable.
• Opportunistic Bastard: Velázquez is power-hungry and monopolizes Mexico's unions so he can accumulate more power, abandoning his ideology in the process.
• Passing the Torch: Subverted: After building the CTM's monopoly over the unions, Velázquez retired as General Secretary in 1947 and entered the legislature. However, his inadequate successor would drive Velázquez to fire him and come back in 1950, where he still holds the position in 1962.
• The Purge: With his cultivated network of patronage, Velázquez cemented control over the CTM in 1947, where used Lombardo Toledano's defection from the PRI to expel him, his supporters, and other left-wing members from the organization.
• Rags to Riches: Velázquez grew up poor in the final years of the Porfiriato, working a variety of jobs and only finishing elementary school. He would eventually become one of the union movement's most prominent figures, before being propelled to an opportunistic ideologue who has absolute control over the CTM and is one of the most powerful men in Mexico.
• The Starscream: Subverted in Salinas' presidency. He tries to put himself forward as a presidential challenger, but no one in the anti-Salinas faction wants that because he has too much baggage around his name and will struggle to get support. Thus, they pick Villanueva as their candidate instead.
• Start My Own: Velázquez, along with Vicente Lombardo Toledano and others, would splinter from the CROM in 1929 when it fell out of favor with the government and on the road to collapse. They founded the Trade Union and Federation of Workers of the Federal District, which would expand with the merger of other unions. Eventually, he helped found the CTM in 1936, as Cárdenas was pushing for unions to unify.
• Young and in Charge: Velázquez has been involved in union politics ever since he was 11, agitating for his fellow workers to join a syndicate right before the Mexican Revolution. While he and his family evacuated during the Revolution, Velázquez returned to Mexico City and, at the age of 23, organized a union associated with the CROM, the largest union at the time.

Role: N/A

Party: Partido Revolucionario Institucional^note 

Ideology: Institutional Despotism^note 

• Corrupt Politician: Throughout Alemán's presidency, he faced numerous corruption scandals and amassed a significant fortune to fund his post-presidency business empire.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Much as he disdains Alemán, Ortiz Mena acknowledges that his presidency laid the groundwork for the Mexican Miracle, established ties with Japan, and led the PRI against the Henriquistas during a time of deep division.
• Dragon Ascendant: Alemán was Camacho's Secretary of the Interior and helped him turn the PRI to the right by subduing the union sector and clamping down on free speech. He would prove especially reliable by kickstarting the Mexican Economic Miracle with his infrastructure investments. Thus, it made logical sense that, despite the left's opposition, Alemán would succeed Camacho in 1946 and secure his position by tightening the presidency's hold over the party.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: President Salinas' crackdowns and purges leave the technocrats incredibly unpopular within the PRI. Sensing the opportunity, Alemán offers assistance to their side, offering to get the manufacturers' support for them so that he can keep exercising power in the post-presidency.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Alemán's father was a revolutionary who rebelled in 1906 and the Mexican Revolution, fighting for democracy, all the way to his death in 1929 during the Escobarista Revolt. While Alemán himself started in law defending the rights of workers, he would eventually become the first civilian President since the Revolution to institute a variety of reforms that eliminated Mexico's democratic institutions and turn the PRI away from its revolutionary values to more business-friendly economic policies.
• Minor Major Character: Alemán was the President of Mexico from 1946-1952, who played a major role in cementing the PRI's authoritarianism, kickstarting the Mexican Economic Miracle, and turning the PRI to the right by opening the country to foreign businesses and aligning with the industrialists. Though not the most active politician in 1962, he still advises the Alemanistas in the PRI and supports Salinas so he can get back into politics.
• Playing Both Sides: Alemán's foreign policy involved courting Japan and the United States simultaneously to draw investments from them. It proved highly successful, even if some tensions arose from the United States over Mexico recognizing Manchuria and Azad Hind. This was Downplayed with his policy on Europe. Alemán wanted to open relations with the European fascists, but knowing that this would be too unpopular, he could only do limited trade with Germany.
• Rags to Riches: Alemán grew up impoverished, spending most of his childhood working and moving around Veracruz with his family. He would later not only become a President but also create a real estate empire in the 1930s and lead a business empire during his time as President.
• Realpolitik: Alemán is one of the few PRI members to dare suggest diplomacy with Germany, which he gets a chance to pursue when President Salinas splits the PRI with his purges and has to accept Alemán's help.
• Repressive, but Efficient: Alemán oversaw a wave of repressive policies that would cement the PRI into a dictatorship, but he also orchestrated the Mexican Economic Miracle by loosening business restrictions, encouraging foreign investment, and massively expanding the infrastructure. This brought about a period of rapid, albeit unequal, economic growth at the cost of abandoning the PRI's revolutionary values.
• Slowly Slipping Into Evil: Downplayed. Alemán was already a corrupt and dictatorial President, but he got even worse after 1952 when the unpopularity of his social and economic policies motivated mass protests against him and for Miguel Henriquez Guzman to become President. Believing that his methods were keeping Mexico economically prosperous, Alemán carried out the Alameda massacre, killing and torturing thousands of Henriquistas. Then, Alemán doubles down on his repression by outlawing his opposition, graduating the PRI soft dictatorship into a harsh autocracy.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Upon becoming President, Alemán would erode Mexico's remaining checks and balances, turning the country into a presidential dictatorship. This meant stripping the Supreme Court of its power and filling it with yes-men, confirming the precedent of Presidents handpicking their successors, maintaining the civil rights restrictions from World War II, creating the DFS to crack down on dissidents, and banning all but four parties. He also worked alongside Velazquez to secure the state's control over the Union sector, pushing out the remaining socialist members of the CTM and coercing the remaining union leaders to join the CTM, dropping strikes to near zero.
• Villainous Legacy: Many of the starting policies of Mexico can be attributed to Alemán, whose authoritarian and industrialization policies have become the party line, much to the chagrin of the organization's left. There are even Alemanistas who continue to pressure the PRI to stick to these positions, no matter how unpopular they are.
• We Used to Be Friends: After an initial setback in his career, Alemán expanded his political connections during the 1930s and befriended President Cárdenas, who helped him climb the PRI's ranks. However, their relationship deteriorated as Alemán worked with Camacho to sideline the PRI's leftist elements. Alemán's pro-business policies and increasingly dictatorial policies would further strain their friendship, culminating in Alemán trying to amend the constitution to give himself an extra term and Cárdenas turning on him by foiling these plans.
• You Are in Command Now: When Alemán was preparing to enter Congress in 1936, the PNR candidate for Governor of Veracruz was assassinated and Alemán was the replacement candidate. From 1936-1939, he would make deals with American businesses, despite supporting oil nationalization, and weaken the socialist education and land reform, foreshadowing the kinds of policies he would enact as President.

Role: N/A

• He's Back!: He withdrew from public appearances after his son died in 1962, but he returns to the spotlight when Salinas gets elected, offering to help his administration.
• Predecessor Villain: Ruiz Cortines was the Mexican President from 1952 to 1958, in which he chose López Mateos as his direct successor.
• Stepford Smiler: Ruiz Cortines seems to approve of Salinas' crusade against anti-corruption, but his smile cannot hide the distrust in his eyes.
• Villainous Friendship: During Ruiz Cortines' presidency, López Mateos was one of his most reliable allies, so they befriended each other. This relationship was one reason why Ruiz Cortines named López Mateos as his successor.
• Villainous Legacy: Though no longer President, Ruiz Cortines set up a lot of policies that are still ongoing, such as his "March to the Sea" program to develop Mexico's Pacific territories. As President, Salinas will expand on these programs, as well as take up the mantle of Ruiz Cortines' notorious anti-corruption campaign.
• Zero-Approval Gambit: Ruiz Cortines spent his presidency on a "Moralization" campaign, which sought to fight corruption within the PRI at the expense of making lots of enemies.

Role: Governor of Puebla (Ortega fired)

• Big Ol' Eyebrows: His thick eyebrows are one of his most notable facial features, and he's a strict military man who advocates harsher methods against the Puebla protestors.
• Hobbes Was Right: Frustrated at Ortega's inability to contain the Puebla riots, Castillo advocates harsher measures against the protestors, believing that only an iron fist can keep them in line. This viewpoint is why López Mateos appoints him as the new Governor of Puebla, trusting that his military experience will give him an eye at ending this conflict.
• Karma Houdini: Downplayed if Echeverría successfully dismantles the Carolina Hostage Crisis through spies. Castillo will be forced to resign as punishment for his incompetence, but he uses his political and military connections to maintain significant influence in Puebla and the PRI.
• Resigned in Disgrace: No matter how the Carolina Hostage Crisis ends, Castillo will be forced to resign, albeit for different reasons:
  • If the Puebla rioters kill their hostages, Castillo leaves in a last-ditch effort to cool down the protests.
  • If a negotiation is reached, Castillo leaves because his name has become too discredited by the chaos and his attempts to undermine Echeverría.
  • If the government infiltration strategy or López Mateos' negotiation succeeds, Castillo leaves for his botched handling of the crisis before Echeverría's intervention.

Role: Deputy in the Morelos State Congress

• Anti-Villain: Héctor can be self-serving and is a shameless supporter of the PRI, even approving of their violence to break up dissidents, like in the 1959 Railroad Strike. However, at least one part of him believes that the PRI should help the peasantry, approving of Madrazo and his reforms, like wage increases.
• Corrupt Politician: Héctor bribes Rámon for a job in President Madrazo's tractor program, illegally seizing the position over the other candidates. If Madrazo takes a hard anti-corruption stance, Héctor desperately tries to destroy any evidence of this and save his career.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?:
  • Héctor did a fantastic job of erecting the powerlines in Morelos, but he's only permitted a mid-level position in the CNC because the Governor, López Avelar, hates him. Though frustrated, Héctor is gambling to get more prestige after the 1964 election.
  • Part of Héctor's dislike for the militant youth is that they don't treat him with any respect, ignoring his years of service in the CNC.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Héctor is a member of the PRI, but he's affectionate with his wife and many grandchildren.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • He strongly opposes López Avelar and his governorship because the man helped murder Emiliano Zapata, a leading figure of the Mexican Revolution.
  • Héctor is dismayed when President Ordaz brings American aid for the Mexican peasantry, considering it a disgrace that the government is working with a country that has historically attacked and bullied Mexico to satiate their imperialist aims.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Héctor normally approves of the militant youth's work, but if Madrazo becomes increasingly reliant on them, he feels threatened that they are starting to volunteer in agricultural affairs, which is supposed to be his job in the CNC. Internally, he fears that his career may be over, as the militant takes over his duties.
• Hen Pecked Husband: Celebrating Madrazo's upcoming nomination, Héctor is about to say the F-word when talking about his rival, but his wife shoots him a scowl and forces him to correct himself mid-sentence.
• Honest John's Dealership: Besides distributing President Madrazo's tractors for Morelos, Héctor is also ecstatic about opening his latest business, which takes advantage of the recent trend by offering tractor repairs.
• Honor Before Reason: President Ordaz brings American aid to help the peasants, but Héctor isn't so forgiving towards the United States' repeated meddling in Mexico. Thus, when the aid arrives, Héctor proclaims that the CNC alone will distribute it themselves, rejecting their help in the process.
• Jerkass to One: He highly approves of Madrazo's presidency and has mixed, but most positive feelings for Ordaz. The only 1964 President he cannot stand at all is Salinas, denouncing him as a second Porfirio who will grind and abuse the peasants that the CNC is supposed to represent.
• Kicked Upstairs: Héctor was made a deputy in the Morelos State Congress because López Avelar wanted to put him in an irrelevant position and strike his rival, Ramón.
• Lazy Bum: In Salinas' route, Héctor sends his assistant to Monterrey and substitutes himself for the annual conference there. He tells his assistant that he'll be organizing the ejidos' irrigation campaign, but he's really planning on relaxing at home because he hates the conference being held anywhere else other than the traditional Federal District.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: When Rámon is retired, Héctor is forced to fire many CNC workers during Madrazo's harsh anti-corruption purges, and he's likely to meet a similar fate years down the line. What Héctor fears most is that the people will only remember his failures, which includes his repression of the fertilizer boycott from the Partido Popular, a popular topic for gossip years after the fact.
• Pet the Dog:
  • While Héctor is excited about Madrazo enriching the CNC, he's also happy that the upcoming President is going to bring in reforms that benefit everyone, including the peasants.
  • If President Madrazo ignores minor instances of corruption, Héctor heads to the Ecological Park and finds a homeless beggar. Taking pity on him, Héctor gives him his spare change.
• Pragmatic Villainy: As a CNC official, his job revolves around improving the living conditions for the peasants to keep them complacent with the PRI status quo.
• Sole Survivor: Following Ramón's retirement in Madrazo's path, Héctor recognizes that he's the last of his generation of politicians in the CNC, as Madrazo is relying more on the militant party youth to take care of the ejidos. At that point, Héctor knows that his career is soon to be over.

Role: N/A

• Corrupt Politician: In Madrazo's route, Rámon illicitly meddles in the government's crop diversification program. He inevitably gets caught for it, but he only faces punishment on the hard anti-corruption path.
• Every Man Has His Price: Héctor strongly wishes to lead Madrazo's tractor program in Morelos, a highly coveted position that receives lots of applications. He only secures the position by offering a bribe to Ramón, which is delivered with his given résumé.
• Long Game: Ramón ingratiates himself to Villanueva before the 1964 election, betting that he will take over the CNC one day and be a useful ally in the future.
• Passing the Torch: Subverted in Madrazo's moderate anti-corruption route. Rámon retires from the CNC, but he leaves no successor behind. This worries Héctor that his career may be over soon too, as Madrazo becomes increasingly reliant on the militant youth.
• The Rival: Ramón is the chief rival of López Avelar, the Governor of Morelos. In 1958, Ramón tried to run against him, while López Avelar tried to sideline him and his ally Héctor.

Role: N/A

• Defiant to the End: As his home is raided by assassins, Jaramillo knows that his fate is sealed, so he lunges at one of them in a desperate act to save his family. Unfortunately, he's instantly knocked unconscious when he's hit with the butt of a rifle, before being executed with almost all of his loved ones.
• The Determinator: Jaramillo represents the last of the original Zapatistas, fighting for land reform at the age of 14 and a guarantee of the rights entailed in the 1917 constitution. He's been arrested and given concessions multiple times, but Jaramillo has never given up on fighting for the working class until the army and DFS finally get sick of him and assassinate him.
• Inspirational Martyr: Just like in OTL, Zapatista opposition figure Rubén Jaramillo and most of his family are kidnapped and murdered in the Xochicalco ruins, deemed a loose end by López Mateos for his support of Zapatismo and his refusal to stay silent since he was given amnesty in 1958. However, his surviving daughter shared what had happened, sparking outrage from all of Mexico's opposition groups and turning his name into a rallying cry for the working class.
• Last Dance: After a decades-long career of fighting for the working class and resisting the PRI, Jaramillo conducts a final act of defiance on International Workers' Day, presenting the "Last Manifesto" to denounce the government's suppression of him and calling for the rural and working class to fight against the PRI. This act destroys the last shred of patience that the army and DFS have for him, so they kill him.
• Last of His Kind: Rubén Jaramillo is the last of the original Zapatistas, and his assassination signals their extinction.
• Rebel Leader: Rubén Jaramillo is the leader of the Jaramilistas, a belligerent group of dissidents who have conducted revolts in Morelos against the PRI.

Role: N/A

• Allegorical Character: Enrique is an original character who represents the average PAN member and their hopeless fight against the PRI's insurmountable dominance. His failure to sway any elections is a testament to how tight the PRI's grip is, and that any legal means to oppose them are moot.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Once a passionate campaigner for the PAN, Enrique loses his optimism when the PRI rigs the election in Baja California and nullifies his efforts. When Enrique returns home, he destroys all of his PAN memorabilia in frustration and disillusionment with their cause.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: He fervently believes that the PAN can challenge the PRI and turn Mexico into a genuine democracy. Enrique's idealism seems to be vindicated when the PAN makes substantial gains in the polls, but this hope is quickly crushed when the PRI rigs the election in their favor, and Enrique gets beaten up for calling this out.

Role: N/A

• Cold-Blooded Torture: Nava gets arrested and tortured in the Palacio de Lecumberri if Salinas or Ordaz takes charge of quelling his protests. In the latter scenario, he's covered in bruises and lacerations by the time he's released and reunited with his wife.
• Defector from Decadence: Once a part of the PRI, Nava ran as an independent candidate in the San Luis Potosí gubernatorial election of 1961. When he lost, he accused the PRI of engaging in electoral fraud and organized a protest that led to his arrest. Despite this, he's never forgiven the PRI for this and stirs another mass movement during the Kabuki Crisis.
• Despair Event Horizon: If Salinas manipulates the protests in his favor, Nava will be targeted by the DFS and imprisoned in a dark cell of the Palacio de Lecumberri. By the time Nava gets out after a few weeks, he's traumatized to the point of being a different man.
• Honor Before Reason: Nava tried to overturn the San Luis Potosí gubernatorial election in 1961, which got many of his allies killed and himself arrested. Despite this, Nava is back to fighting the PRI during the Kabuki Crisis, rallying another series of protests against the PRI's anti-democratic practices.
• Internal Reformist: He used to be a PRI populist who thought that the system could be reformed to better represent the common man before he turned on the party.
• Keystone Army: He is the heart of the San Luis Potosí protests during the Kabuki Crisis. If he gets arrested in Ordaz or Salinas' strategy, his movement will disintegrate.
• Know When to Fold 'Em:
  • Nava gives up on politics when his protest is crushed violently by the DFS, having been broken by the torture he endured in the Palacio de Lecumberri.
  • His negotiations with Madrazo will set up a number of anti-corruption measures, but Nava points out that they are riddled with loopholes that will fail to change anything in the long-term. However, Nava accepts the terms because, as Madrazo states, this is the best they can do without angering the conservatives or the DFS.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: The unexpected Yasuda Crisis is exploited by Nava to challenge the PRI once more. He organizes a massive protest in San Luis Potosí, primarily to demand the overturn of the city's 1961 gubernatorial election.
• Ungrateful Bastard: At least, López Mateos accuses him of such. Nava was arrested in 1961 for protesting the PRI's victory in the gubernatorial election but was quickly released when the public loudly condemned this. With the PRI vulnerable in the Kabuki Crisis, Nava is back to his old tricks and organizes another protest against the election, which López Mateos views as a betrayal of his mercy.

Role: N/A

• All for Nothing: For all the defiance she showed, Lupita is left with nothing if the Doctors' Strike is resolved and President Salinas focuses on demonizing the AMMRI. While doesn't face any government persecution, she's still forced to give up her job in the medical industry, burning her nametag and living the rest of her life in regret that her life will amount to nothing.
• Allegorical Character: As an ordinary hospital intern and ringleader of the AMMRI, Lupita gives an individual perspective of what the Doctor's Strike is like for those taking to the streets.
• chekhovsGunman: An event from López Mateos' final year takes place from Lupita's perspective, as she's forced to work extra hours after missing the bus home and needing money from overtime. She reappears again during the Doctors' Strike, organizing the Saltillo chapter of the AMMRI and encouraging her fellow interns to organize against their abusive bosses.
• Despair Event Horizon: She's left in utter despair if any of the Presidents fail to contain the Doctor's Strike. As the demonstrators are arrested en masse, Lupita is put on trial for "social dissolution" and sentenced to six years in prison, which she's too forlorn to react to besides crying.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Lupita gets a chance to retaliate against her abusive bosses during the Doctor's Strike, and some routes end with a relatively good ending for her.
  • If Salinas co-opts the movement to pass more reforms, Lupita will join the celebration of her fellow strikers, as their managers are forced to give them more benefits in their contracts.
  • If the unions are willingly absorbed in Madrazo's route, Lupita enjoys all of the protections guaranteed by the President and even befriends a professor she met during the strikes.
• Only Sane Man: As the Saltillo chapter of the AMMRI celebrates Madrazo's inauguration, Lupita is the only one among her comrades to remind everyone that the Doctors' Strike is still not over, as the CTM sees them as a threat. The other interns don't share her caution and act as though the battle is already won.
• Pyrrhic Victory: In Madrazo's route, Lupita is celebrated if the Doctors' Strike was resolved by getting the doctors back to work as soon as possible. Many admire her willingness to stand up to the PRI, but Lupita is more disappointed that the AMM and AMMRI only got their demands at the behest of Madrazo and the PRI's institutions. The more she thinks about this, the more hollow the victory feels to her.
• Uncertain Doom:
  • Lupita is in a critical state if the Doctors' Strike is sidelined in Ordaz's path. The doctor tells her parents that she's suffering from a depressed fracture on the parietal bone, an internal hemorrhage, and many other serious conditions. The doctor raises serious doubts that she might not wake up, and it's not helped that the doctor is needed elsewhere to tend to the other hospitalized demonstrators.
  • If President Ordaz took harsh action against the Doctor's Strike, Lupita is last seen being arrested by the police and taken away to an unknown fate.

Role:N/A

• Chekhov's Gunman: He appears in a couple of early events, balking at the PRI's neglect of the poor, but still working a relatively mundane job as a schoolteacher. But Arturo soon escalates into an actual threat when he creates the GPG and fights the PRI.
• Cynic–Idealist Duo: Compared to his brother Jacobo, Arturo is more cynical, expressing more skepticism about the government listening to the UGOCM's demands for more social equality.
• Defector from Decadence: After getting arrested and failing to convince López Mateos to make more extensive welfare reforms, Arturo declares that the PRI has hopelessly strayed from the Mexican Revolution's original goals. He creates the GPG with his fellow revolutionaries to try to overthrow the PRI and create a government that truly cares for its workers and peasants.
• Doomed Moral Victor: Arturo is doomed to die in the failed GPG attack on Madera, no matter what.
• Face Death with Dignity: In Madrazo's presidency, Arturo is shot to death and, though he doesn't live to see the PRI overthrown, he's still grateful to have died for a good cause. His last cry is "For the Revolution!"
• Frontline General: Sometimes, Arturo will personally participate in the GPG's battles, putting himself at risk, alongside the soldiers he commands.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: His strategy in the opening stages of the Dirty War is to organize small groups of fighters who can harass the landowners and vanish into the Sierra before the government can mobilize the full strength of its forces. He intends to show the country that resistance can work and embolden the other peasants to revolt against their landowners, building momentum for the GPG.
• Killed Offscreen:
  • Arturo's death isn't shown in Ordaz's route. The player only gets a radio transmission of his column being ambushed in Madera, followed by Jacobo and Gaytán's reaction to the death of their leader.
  • In Salinas' presidency, Arturo is also killed offscreen, as the GPG partisans successfully take Madera and only then discover that their leader was shot during the attack.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": In the Dirty War, Arturo borrows the strategies used by Che Guevara to fight the PRI. He uses Guevara's book "Guerrilla Warfare" to inform his hit-and-run strategies.
• Sibling Team: He leads the GPG, and recruits Jacobo in his inner circle.
• So Proud of You: After the first GPG strike on the Ibarra estate, Arturo admires how battle-hardened Gaytán and his column have become.

Role: N/A

• Cynic–Idealist Duo: Jacobo is the idealist to Arturo. They both want fairer treatment of the peasantry, but Jacobo has more faith that López Mateos will hear out the UGOCM's wishes. It's only after the government dismisses them that Jacobo agrees that negotiations cannot be conducted.
• Sibling Team: Jacobo works alongside his brother Arturo in the GPG, serving as one of his chief advisors.
• Take Up My Sword: Heartbroken by Arturo's demise in Madera, Jacobo swears that he will keep fighting for the Revolution, until his dying day.

Role: N/A

• Action Hero: Compared to Arturo, Gaytán is more likely to get in the heat of battle, leading the charge against the PRI and the landowners.
• Dislikes the New Guy: Gaytán is reluctant about recruiting dishonorably discharged army captains into the GPG, thinking that they are untrustworthy. He only relents when Arturo vouches that they are legitimate and could provide valuable expertise to their ranks.
• Number Two: Gaytán is Arturo's foremost commander, entrusted with leading some of the GPG's most critical operations.
• Passing the Torch: Gaytán no longer actively resists the PRI after the failed Madera attack, but he entrusts Jacobo to take Arturo's place and keep fighting the Dirty War. He even gifts him his polished, Torreón-made Mauser as a symbolic gesture of giving him the reins.

Role: N/A

• All of the Other Reindeer: Rodrigo is ostracized by the other boys for his darker skin tone, and he feels that even his family is ashamed. It all makes him feel so bitter at the world, combined with his mother's death.
• Alone Among the Couples: After the Puerto Plata Invasion is won for Mexico, Rodrigo sees couples hooking up and dancing together. He even spots his sisters getting in on the action, which frustrates him because everyone looks down on his darker skin color, and he can't openly dance without getting bullied.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Rodrigo repeatedly ran away from home as a child, enjoying the independence that came with it. He's forced to leave home again after the Kabuki Crisis but for much darker reasons now; he's just lost his glassblowing job and needs to find work in his father's hometown, Veracruz. He lives like a street rat during his travels and ultimately fails to get a job, as every business is not open to hiring more workers.
• Hidden Depths: Rodrigo likes to dance, but he can't practice it because it would violate gender norms. After the Puerto Plata invasion is won, Rodrigo watches everyone dance in the night celebration, which makes him jealous that he can't pursue what he wants.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Frequently mocked by his peers, Rodrigo angsts about not having any friends. Fortunately, he does get a taste of camaraderie in Madrazo's path.
• I Want to Be a Real Man: Subverted. He puts up a front of Machismo, but it's all to hide his insecurities and genuine passion for dancing.
• Momma's Boy: He has a distant relationship with his father, but Rodrigo is more fond of his mother, Guadalupe. It's all the more tragic that she's dead, and the rest of the Álvarez family is uncomfortable talking about it.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Serving in the army, Rodrigo murders an old man as part of President Salinas' crackdowns after the Madera raid. He's shocked at himself, attempting to resolve his guilt by reasoning that the man was reaching for a gun or was a Bolshevik insurgent, but he can't suppress his remorse or the sorrow from seeing truckloads of other murdered communists.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Rodrigo sees his sister Maria get close to a neighborhood boy named Crispin, which he disapproves of, knowing that Crispin is bound to get her in trouble.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After all the tragedy and bullying he's faced, Rodrigo finally gets a break in Madrazo's presidency, where he's invited to a bar and listens to Madrazo's speech. He joins everyone else's cheers at the rhetoric, feeling that he's finally made some friends to hang out with later on.
• Too Desperate to Be Picky: Desperate for money, Rodrigo fences stolen valuables from the Historic District, which is a prime spot for naive tourists. He knows that his father would disapprove and only does it because he was fired from his glass-blowing job weeks prior. Eventually, he decides to do honest work by joining the army.

Role: N/A

• Beware the Nice Ones: Downplayed. She's one of the nicer members of the Álvarez family, but she can get surprisingly defiant when she feels mistreated. When President Ordaz sets up a curfew after the Madera raid, Camila is stopped for breaking it, but she argues with the officer about it for a good amount of time. She's only silenced when the officer slams a truncheon into a wall and puts her in jail for the night.
• Cool Big Sis: Camila is the older sister to Rodrigo and one of the few people who treats him with a modicum of kindness. She sometimes gets targeted by Rodrigo's angsty rants, but Camila tries to understand that he's miserable from their mother's death.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Camila is the responsible one to her brother Miguel. Camila bears the responsibility of taking care of Miguel's daughter and the rest of the family, while Miguel shirks his duties by going to the racetracks.
• Heroes Gone Fishing: When she's not studying or taking care of her family, she's hanging out with her friends at the café cantantes. Notably, she'll feel the effects of President Madrazo's response to these locations, whether she parties in peace, witnesses the PRI militants raid the cafés or sees the businesses shut down.
• Honor Before Reason: She tries to take advantage of the Japanese language courses that can potentially be set up, but her odds of passing are unlikely because she's overstretched trying to take care of the Álvarez family, and her father's not sympathetic enough to help her. It's so bad that Camila considers quitting, but she ultimately presses on to later get a well-paying job and provide a better life for her family.
• Parental Substitute: Since her brother Miguel is a neglectful caregiver, Camila has to take care of his daughter as if she were the real parent, even though she's her biological aunt. In Madrazo's route, she will have to pick up her niece from school if the pre-schools are reformed or take her to a market if housing reforms are initiated.
• Promoted to Parent: Since Guadalupe is dead and Josue is too distant to care about his children, Camila is left with the responsibility of taking care of most of the family.

Role: N/A

• Dark and Troubled Past: He's a surly man and an incredibly flawed parent, but Josue didn't have an easy life. He's one of the many working-class men who were oppressed by the PRI, who notably burned down his grandfather's store and forced him to leave Veracruz. Josue is still bitter about the PRI and warns his family to never trust them.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Josue is easily riled and he can direct it on his family, such as when Rodrigo is angsting. Notably, the dinner table is silent when he's present, but is rife with talk when he's at work.
• Parental Neglect: On a typical day, he'll be apathetic to his children, eating his own dinner and returning to his chair without batting an eye at them.
• Pride: He doesn't respect Camila's wish to learn Japanese and access new employment opportunities, thinking that he alone should provide for the family.
• Properly Paranoid: Josue rightfully calls out the PRI's empty rhetoric of enacting justice, recalling the many injustices they've committed against the lower class. Even if Madrazo is elected, Josue is skeptical that he will truly be benevolent, which eerily foreshadows Madrazo's overblown response to the Madera raid.

• Blatant Lies: After invading Guatemala in the "A Tale of Two Revolutions" teaser, Mexico proclaims that they will establish a revolutionary democracy for them, but said "democracy" will be a de-facto one party state modeled after the PRI, complete with a corporatist structure to control the workers and peasants.
• Evil Mentor: In the "A Tale of Two Revolutions" teaser, Mexico presents itself as a mentor to Guatemala's revolution, after they just invaded them. However, this is a front to create an institutional dictatorship, modeled after their own structure and run by collaborators.
• Regime Change: After a potential 1967 surprise attack by Guatemala in the "A Tale of Two Revolutions" teaser, Mexico launches a full-scale invasion to replace them with a friendly regime, calling upon the Veracruz Pact and Caribbean Legion to assist them. Said attack also comes off the back of Mexico supporting an attempted invasion of Guatemala by the Caribbean Legion.