Carlos Salinas

Salinas privatized hundreds of state-owned enterprises, including the national telephone company Telmex and banks. These neoliberal reforms aimed to modernize the economy but also led to increased inequality and concentration of wealth.

President Carlos Salinas de Gortari led Mexico's negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada. The treaty, signed in 1992 and effective in 1994, eliminated trade barriers and integrated Mexico into the North American economy.

On the day NAFTA took effect, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) launched an armed uprising in Chiapas, protesting the treaty's impact on indigenous communities. The rebellion exposed deep social inequalities and challenged Salinas' neoliberal agenda.

Carlos Salinas' brother, Ra