Mexican Election: Candidates for president: Cardenas: 'more than a smile'

THE NAME of Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), says much. Son of a revered part-Indian former President, Lazaro Cardenas, he was named after an Aztec Indian chief. A populist-come-lately who defected from the PRI before the 1988 elections and believes he was robbed of the presidency by fraud, the 60-year-old has been given surprisingly low ratings in the polls.

But objective Mexicans believe he has suffered from a crude PRI- orchestrated campaign suggesting he favours violence, as well as a lack of accurate polling in the countryside where he is widely revered if only for his part-Indian extraction. Criticised by many for being dour and unsmiling, Mr Cardenas's campaign managers tried to turn this to his advantage. 'More than a smile, a man of integrity', said some campaign posters.

(Photograph omitted)