Much to the surprise of election officials and sponsors of other groups striving to qualify as political parties, an ultraconservative organization in northern Mexico is closing in on the thresholds required to earn formal recognition as a national political party.

The group — “México Tiene Vida” (“Mexico Has Life”) — claims more than 220,000 have registered with the organization, which has held assemblies in 107 voting districts. Federal law requires 256,000 affiliations and 200 district assemblies before Jan. 31 in order to petition to become a nationally recognized political party.

México Tiene Vida — commonly referred to as Vida — was founded in Monterrey, the capital of the northern state of Nuevo León, in 2022 and secured registration as a local political party ahead of the 2024 state elections.

Although it did not win any mayoral or state congressional seats, Vida — which relies on the support of conservative business leaders and members of the evangelical churches — received the fourth-highest number of votes in the state (4.3%).

Its rapid rise in its quest to become a national party has raised eyebrows, particularly due to its excessive reliance on the electronic application enabled by the National Electoral Institute (INE) to recruit members.

INE records indicate that Vida has registered nearly 80% of its members via the app, collecting only about 47,000 signatures at assemblies. As noted by the newspaper El País, this proportion is the exact opposite of that of other organizations seeking registration, which have achieved most of their memberships at events.

As its name suggests, Vida is a pro-life (i.e. anti-abortion) party, self-defined as an organization that advocates for the restoration of Mexico’s dignity and the recovery of ethical and moral values.

According to its Declaration of Principles, Vida is guided by six principal values — respect for life, family, liberty, private property, justice and peace — and three fundamental concepts — human and social development; prosperity and sustained development; and justice, governability and security. 

In its Program of Action, Vida argues that the country is in dire need of honest politicians with values ​​and ethics, asserting that there is a crisis of credibility of existing political parties.

In Mexico, it says, politicians “don’t want to serve the public,” but instead “are obsessed with wealth and power, which they can obtain through politics.”

Jaime Ochoa, a Monterrey businessman, is the public face of Vida, along with fellow Monterrey businessmen Eduardo Zamarripa and Jorge Garza, who are listed as the group’s legal representatives in its dealings with INE.

If granted recognition as a national party, Vida would appear on the 2027 midterm ballot, and must obtain at least 3% of the national vote to retain its registration.

With reports from El País and El Financiero