Mexico: Politics over Chilaquiles

Over scrambled eggs and chicken-stuffed chilaquiles, 130 leaders of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party have begun screening six potential candidates for the 1988 presidential election. The first three contenders had their turn last week, at three separate breakfasts in Mexico City.

The meals were a tentative gesture toward openness. Through 58 years of uninterrupted rule by P.R.I., a Mexican President has had virtually a free hand in choosing his successor as the party’s nominee. This year, however, a dissident faction known as the Democratic Current has clamored to open P.R.I.’s nomination process. In response, party officials drew up a short list of candidates. But the rebels are not impressed. “It’s a grand show,” said Democratic Current Leader Cuauhtemoc Cardenas. “Nothing has changed.”