My first IFES field assignment was in Mexico City, the city of my birth. IFES was commissioned by the Mexican electoral institute (Instituto Federal Electoral-IFE) to assess the controversial election law reforms introduced following the incendiary 2006 presidential election. My memory of that time is vivid: As we waited anxiously for the results, my family and I spent all our free time glued to a TV that constantly showed images of protesters while we compulsively discussed the possible resulting scenarios and how Mexico would deal with the discontent of such a close election. I remembered the comfort we took in the fact that the IFE was recognized by democracy experts around the world as a solid institution able to withstand many challenges. The field assignment would allow me to see first-hand how the institution that both set off and carried Mexico through such a combustive period was faring.
I arrived in Mexico City a couple of weeks after I learned of the assignment and made my way to the hotel where the team was lodged. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay at one of my siblings’ homes because the heavy traffic in the capital rendered them irritatingly far away from the rest of the IFES team. The iconic hotel where we stayed did, at least, stir in me childhood nostalgia for Sunday afternoons when my grandmother took me for delicious orange-lime milkshakes, and of how much my little nephews enjoyed swimming in the pool when visiting family members stayed at the hotel.
These wistful memories vanished when I saw the new America’s Regional Director’s tired face. Mustering an encouraging smile, Martin Landi told me of the busy days and nights he had already spent working on the project and the ones that awaited us. As he briefed me on the assignment, Martin expressed excitement at having the opportunity to work with some of the world’s greatest elections experts who were consultants on our project. The consultants were natives of Argentina, Spain and Peru. They held important positions in their countries and were also known around the world, having shaped and improved many election systems. He believed that my introduction into election fieldwork would be exceptional.
Martin was right. The complexity of the Mexican electoral system made the work engrossing. The consultants often declared that the Mexican election law is decades ahead of most other countries’. Several times, they said they were impressed with the level of sophistication within the Mexican governmental structures. And the fact that the IFE was, during this time, passing through a period of extreme media scrutiny made it feel as if we were in the middle of a front page story. Without a doubt, however, it was my interactions with the IFE officials and the consultants that made this trip so valuable to me.
The Mexican elections commission officials were very well-versed, not only in the Mexican electoral system, but in systems around the world. In fact, some of them had previously worked with our consultants on projects in other countries. Even more impressive was their openness to discuss and explore suggestions from other experts in hopes of making an already world-renowned system even better. I was glad to see that kindness -- the cultural characteristic that I find most common in the Mexican people -- is as prevalent as ever at the highest levels of government.
The consultants proved to be ingenious in their areas of work. They identified potential pitfalls in election laws that were not easy to see. They deftly associated elements of Mexico’s code with those of other countries in order to more clearly understand their ramifications. Yet what impressed me most about working with these men were their attitudes. During meetings, they were unpretentious and often found ways to bring levity to the moments that felt too intense. Outside of work, their sense of humor kept us all laughing. On a Friday night, after a week of all-consuming work, we organized a trip to Plaza Garibaldi, the home of mariachi in Mexico City. The consultants, unable to leave the taxi driver out of a night of fun, invited him to join us in our escapades, one of which involved the celebration of my “19th” birthday, an event that actually occurred almost a decade ago in September. Most of the consultants were grateful to be able to partake in Mexico City’s extraordinary cultural scene; they squeezed out every free moment from their work schedule to enjoy it. One of them, a high-profile figure in his country’s legal system, proved to have an impressive variety of friends when he ran into very dear friends of his-members of a popular rock band.
Their contagious attitude of optimism and appreciation confirmed to me not only that incredibly busy and successful people can lead fun and multifaceted lives, but that doing so has a domino-effect as it inspires those around them. When I began working for IFES, I hoped for the opportunity to interact with a broad spectrum of a nation’s people. I thought that my fieldwork in Mexico might not give me this kind of access, and that our projects would consist solely of analysis at the institutional level. In truth, it proved to be a learning experience in both areas - the political and the human.