Why is that? Am I missing something here?
Mexico post-Revolution has always had different political parties. PRI itself developed from previous political organization. Mexico was by in large run by the PRI, but it allowed political parties. Think of it more of a political machine a la Chicago, IL that used various means to win elections.
PRI, through its different manifestations, allowed other political parties and even “helped” create other parties in order to maintain its political power, i.e., divide the opposition vote in order to win majority.
The CP in Mexico was outlawed from 1925 to 1935. From 1940 to 1976, it lost official political registration.
Short answer, yes.
Of course, it’s up to interpretation at what point you’re crossing the line in meddling with politics. If I give money to a political party, does that count? What if I’m quoted in a newspaper? Attend a rally? Wear a Calderon T-shirt in public? Whisper my opinion to my father-in-law? It’s not really well defined. Perhaps I’d’ve been more accurate to say “convey my opinion” rather than just having one, though.
There is a continuum from totalitarian one-party states where the party is merely a rubber stamp for the dictator, to totalitarian one-party states where the party makes all decisions and the “leader” of the party is often not the most powerful member of the party, to states where one party always wins the elections through various means fair or foul although other parties aren’t officially banned.
So when Stalin was alive, the communist party in the USSR was an extension of his will. But after he died, no other dictator ever had the same amount of power. The party still controlled all aspects of the government, but no one person totally controlled the party, and so we see Nikita Kruzchev being forced out of power. And then we have the well known one party states of Latin America, where in theory there are other parties, and they field candidates, and sometimes actually win elections, but the main party is so entrenched and has so many tools at its disposal that other parties have very little chance. This ranges from being able to write election laws that make getting on the ballot very difficult, handing out patronage jobs to ensure a loyal cadre of supporters, harrassing opposition newspapers, control over state owned media like TV and radio stations, voter intimidation schemes, handouts of food and medicine to political supporters and denial to political opponents, paramilitary goon squads, all the way up to clandestine assassinations and disappearances.
There are more than one communist parties. Lombardo Toledano founded the Partido Popular in 1948. It is now known as the Partido Popular Socialista de México.
But there was only one that called itself the Partido Comunista Mexicano and that was banned by the government.
PP (later PPS) was organized by Lombardo Toledano, a union president and founder of the CTM (Confederatio of Mexican Workers) that came out of the PNR (pre-cursor to the PRI). PPS was what was called a “partido satelite” (a satellite party). An opposition party dependent on PRI’s good graces and governmental money.
My point in my first post is that there has been a communist party on the ballot as long as I can remember. Not necessarily THE Communist Party. There have been any number of far left parties, socialist/communist with their constant evolutions and mergings participating in the electoral process. The Partido Mexicano de los Trabajadores, PMT and the Partido Mexicano Socialista, PMS, later formed the Partido Socialista Unificado de México. Their leader, Heberto Castillo backed Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas when he ran as the candidate for the Frente Democrático Nacional against Carlos Salinas in 1988. And the FDN then morphed into the PRD which lost another controversial election last July.
Wikipeida lists alot: One-party state - Wikipedia
Alot are communist. But a few other ones stand out:
Germany under the Nazis (obvious)
Iraq and Syria under the Baath party (socialist but definitely not communist)
Spain under Franco
Indonesia under Suharto