An international panel ruled that the Mexican government cannot prevent former foreign minister Jorge Castaneda from running for president as an independent in 2006. Castaneda is a former NYU professor who, although distinctively left-leaning, is on the DEMOCRATIC left, and more to the point, is not a muddlehead. He wrote the first scathing biography of Che Guevara to his great credit and for that, Castro has never forgiven him.

If I were Mexican, I might not vote for him because of disagreements on ideology but I would appreciate the chance to vote for him as one candidate among many. I respect him. I sense that this is the sentiment in Mexico, too. Mexicans want quality people running for office, not just old line machine pols and their corrupt cronies. Castaneda fits the bill and adds to their choices.

This ruling in some ways resembles the summer’s AMLO legal case which ultimately permitted the presidential frontrunner, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (he’s AMLO) to run for president without legal technicalities stopping him. Most Mexicans supported AMLO in this because he was seen as being railroaded and these legalistic manuevers offended their sense of justice. As a result, Mexicans came out to demonstrate for AMLO in great numbers. Now that he can legimately run, there is adequate time for voters to scrutinize his ideas, as a good democracy must, instead of view him as a glowing symbol of injustice and idolize him.

The Castaneda ruling is a significant victory for Mexico’s democracy in the same way. It opens up the political system to ever newer forms of political expression. I can’t tell you how important that is in Mexico. So much of Mexico is a closed club of elites. And with more than 100 million people, think about how big Mexico is to be stuck with such a closed club. Way too big. Breaking up that and letting the people in, letting new faces in, airing the place out, is absolutely, completely, critically the name of the game in Mexico, probably moreso than in most countries in Latin America.

Mexico is in the throes of an election season and only has about 6 months left before one of three candidates – Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the leftwing PRD, Roberto Madrazo Pintado of the center-left establishmentarian dinosaur PRI, or Felipe Calderon of the supposedly rightwing PAN party vie for the vote in July 2006. Mexicans will have to choose between these three – or now, Castaneda.

This young Mexican blogger here, Ivan Farias Pelastre, at his En Mi Opinion bitacora (that’s ‘blog’ to us) sees things largely the same way I do – he is not a big fan of Castaneda but he is relieved that the guy can run for president, opening up the marketplace of political ideas for Mexico’s voters and breaking up the power monopolies.

Over at International Views, Carlos Borgo has a comment I find myself agreeing with too – he says the PRD is what the PRI was four decades ago, the PRI is awful, and the only option left for him is PAN, not because he likes PAN but because the new guy, Felipe Calderon, who was NOT Vicente Fox’s choice of a successor (this gives him credibility!), probably has the sense to make the reforms Fox promised really happen. Fox never had a lick of sense but maybe Calderon does. I agree with him.

Some background on Castaneda from assorted blog entries can be found here, here and here.

UPDATE: Mexican election officials have said that no, Castaneda cannot run and they don’t care what the international board says. The item is here.