Editing Carlos Salinas de Gortari (section)

====Poverty alleviation====
Salinas established the National Solidarity Program (PRONASOL), a [[Social Welfare in Mexico|social welfare program]], as a way to directly aid poor Mexicans, but also create a network of support for Salinas.<ref>Bruhn, Kathleen. "Social spending and political support: The" lessons" of the National Solidarity Program in Mexico." Comparative Politics (1996): 151-177.</ref>  It was his first official act as president.  The program channeled public funds, which the administration said came largely from privatization of  state-owned companies, into impoverished areas to improve roads, the electrical grid, schools, and clinics in order to raise levels of education and health and link remote areas, with lack of oversight in its spending.<ref>Paul Lawrence Haber, "Neoliberalism" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico''. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, p. 1016.</ref><ref>Bussey, "Carlos Salinas de Gortari", pp. 1331-32</ref> The program was similar to those in other countries to manage the disruption and political costs of macroeconomic adjustment. Salinas's Harvard doctoral dissertation had examined the relationship between social programs and political support for the government. Given the Salinas's questionable legitimacy as the winner of the 1988 election, PRONASOL was seen as a way for Salinas to deliver immediate benefits to the poor and avert their turning to other political parties or worse. It did not prioritize funding for Mexico's poorest states, but rather to states with middle-income populations where elections were most contested and where the PRI had lost. Politically, the program sought to undermine the appeal of leftists, especially [[Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas]].<ref>Haber, "Neoliberalism", p. 1016.</ref> In Chiapas, PRONASOL channeled increased funds in 1993 and 1994, but it did not prevent the [[Zapatista uprising]], which showed that the program had only a limited impact.<ref>Jonathan Fox, "Programa Nacional de Solidaridad, (PRONASOL)" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'', Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, pp. 1360-1362</ref><ref>Cornelius, Wayne, Ann Craig, and Jonathan Fox, eds. ''Transforming State-Society Relation in Mexico: The National Solidarity Strategy''. LaJolla: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego 1994.</ref>