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| 1998 |
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| Gubernatorial elections throughout the year indicated the waning influence of the dominant Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) that had maintained power for 70 years. In 1998 Mexico became the second-largest trading partner of the United States, behind Canada and ahead of Japan. | 1 |
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| 1999, Jan. 21 |
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| Brother of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Raúl Salinas de Gortari was convicted of plotting the political murder of José Francisco Ruíz Massieu in 1994. Raúl Salinas de Gortari received the maximum sentence for his crime: 50 years of imprisonment without parole. | 2 |
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| March 4 |
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| Pres. Ernesto Zedillo vowed that he would not continue the practice of dedazo by which the president chooses his party's candidate for the upcoming election. | 3 |
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| March 21 |
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| A referendum on the rights of Mexican Indians was held nationwide by the EZLN. The vote was intended to generate support for the EZLN cause; more than 800,000 ballots were cast. | 4 |
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| Nov. 7 |
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| The PRI held its first presidential primary, won by former interior secretary Francisco Labastida Ochoa. | 5 |
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