BORDER POLITICS
by Kama Dean, Contributing Writer

A Guide to the Parties Contending for Chihuahuan Governorship

On July 12, 1998, citizens of the 67 municipalities of Chihuahua, Mexico will be called upon to elect a new Governor. Chihuahua is made up of approximately 1.8 million registered voters, all of which are eligible to vote in the upcoming election. Currently, the PAN holds control of the gubernatorial seat in Chihuahua and Gov. Barrio has a 69% public approval rating. Four other parties are now contesting the PAN's position. The PRI, PRD, PVEM, and PT-CDP are all preparing their candidates, and their electoral bases, for the election. In the most recent polls, the PRI is ahead of the PAN, 49% to 36%.

Election Process

Constitutionally, Mexico is a federal republic. Therefore, federal law prescribes rules for deputy, senatorial and presidential elections. The laws for the proceedings of state level elections, however, differ from those at the federal level. The Mexican Constitution requires statutes adopted by the individual states outlining the rules for state elections. These statues govern elections for governorships and state deputies (diputados locales), mayors (presidentes municipales), and municipal councillors (regidores). The Mexican Constitution also prohibits the immediate reelection of state officials. Therefore, each official serves one term only.

According to the State Electoral Law, each party must choose a candidate and register him or her with the State Electoral Institution. A majority of their party members selected both the PAN and the PRI candidates. The PAN candidate was selected in an open convention, in which more than eight thousand people participated. The PRI candidate competed with two other pre- candidates in an event that could be compared to a primary election in the United States. The PRD candidate was determined in a Plenary session of 60 state advisors; party leaders chose both the PVEM and PT-CDP candidates.

From here, each candidate and party will campaign for votes until the July 12 election. A new Governor will then be selected by direct popular vote and, as stated above, serve one term only. The winning candidate will take office on October 4, 1998.

Parties and Candidates

PRI

The Institutional Revolutionary Party has chosen Patricio Martinez Garcia as their candidate in the upcoming elections. Martinez Garcia is a public accountant and a federal deputy for the state of Chihuahua.

The primary goals of Chihuahua's Institutional Revolutionary Party, according to Martinez Garcia, are to advance democracy, to extend education and health services to the greater society, and to generate qualifications and options for young people. The PRI sees as its main challenges fighting poverty and generating better expectations for the field and the city. The PRI also says it believes that economic growth must be consolidated and wealth must be redistributed to ensure productive economic growth.


PAN

The national party of PAN, National Action Party, has been committed to human rights issues, especially concerning Chiapas, according to its platform. This, therefore, has dominated their party platform at the state level as well. There are seven issues that the platform is most concerned with, four of which effect the state platforms.

First is the primacy of human rights and the preeminence of national interests. PAN says its core principles are the essential equality of all human beings, the eminent dignity of every person, and the effective protection of human rights. National unity is the second issue with which PAN is concerned. PAN says it believes it is indispensable that the national political organization provides for the recognition of, and respect for, natural communities, giving them an appropriate place in government and the ability for participation in the structure and performance of the State.

Third, the PAN platform supports equality and participation. The PAN says it is against all forms of discrimination and margination in the Mexican society. They say they are for the restitution of the indigenous communities as subjects of law that should be fully recognized by the State. Fourth, PAN pushes for autonomy in the municipalities. They emphasize the need for a common project on cultural diversity that acknowledges the autonomy of indigenous communities within the Mexican State. PAN believes that free, strong and autonomous municipalities are a necessity.

Ex-Juarez municipal president and public accountant, Ramon Galindo Noriega, is the candidate representing the National Action Party. Noriega, in obtaining his position as candidate, defeated the ex-secretary general Romero Ramos with 55.15% of the votes at the PAN convention.

PRD

Maria Esther Orozco Orozco, a doctor in biology, has been selected to represent the Revolutionary Democracy Party. Orozco Orozco is a sister of the Chihuahuan PRD leader, Luis Adolfo. Orozco Orozco gained her endorsement at the Plenary session, where she received 34 of the 60 votes.

The PRD says it is the party of the workers, farmers, and middle class. They are committed to defending sovereignty, advancing democracy, impelling social justice, and contributing to cooperation and respect between towns and municipalities. The PRD is a product of the Mexican Revolution and continues pushing for national economic development, meeting the demands of the `participativa', and improving democratic institutions.

PVEM

The PVEM is the Ecological Green Party of Mexico. The PVEM says it is interested in the care and conservation of nature and supports also the recovery and reinforcement of the authentic cultural values of Mexico.

The fundamental principles in which the PVEM says it bases its platform are love, justice, and freedom for all beings that inhabit the Earth, including vegetables, animals and humans. Gerardo Arturo Limon Dominguez, a licensed psychologist, is running under the PVEM banner. Limon Dominquez announced his candidacy for Governor Wednesday, March 13.

PT-CDP

The PT (Partido Trabajo) is the Working Party of Mexico, and is allied with the Popular Defense Committee (CDP) in Chihuahua. The PT sees the type of capitalist social relations at work in Mexico today as the reason for conditions of subdevelopment and economic dependency.

They say they believe that the Federal and State governments, as the original apparatuses of political domination of the masses, are responsible for the coercion and repression exercised by the army and police. The PT says it also believes that the `Great Private Bourgeoisie' is the corruptive class in power, and the fundamental group in charge of the Mexican social structure, and the crisis it suffers. Power must be distributed among the classes to cause desired economic and social change.

The PT has chosen Angel Jose Gurrea Luna as their Gubernatorial candidate. Gurrea Luna is a criminal lawyer, and still recognizes himself as a member of the PRI, which he was affiliated with in 1964.