Background on elections in Veracruz in 1994 and on the standing of the PAN after those elections [MEX28411.E]

For information on the state results for the general elections held throughout Mexico in August 1994, please consult the documents attached to Response to Information Request MEX27638.E of 27 November 1997.

Please find attached a report on the results of municipal elections in Veracruz of Sunday, 13 November 1994. Before the elections, opposition parties governed 10 of the 207 municipalities of the state (San Antonio Express-News 26 Nov. 1994). By 26 November 1994, after the elections, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) "had conceded defeat in 27 of 207 municipalities in the southern state of Veracruz after a campaign marred by violence and disorganization" (ibid.). As of that date, presumably before official results were released, victories were claimed by both the Partido de la Revolucion Democratica (PRD) and Partido de Accion Nacional (PAN) in the port of Veracruz and in the cities of Orizaba and Cordoba (ibid.). The report concludes by stating that "while violence broke out in some communities and opposition parties complained of fraud, most observers said the Sunday vote appeared cleaner than the Aug. 21 national elections" (ibid.).

The information that follows was obtained from a 6 August 1995 report in Spanish from La Jornada, which comments on that day's state legislative elections and describes the political and electoral situation nearly one year after the municipal elections.

A total of 3,535,725 Veracruzans could vote on 6 August 1995 to elect 24 "uninominal" and 16 "plurinominal" (same terms in Spanish) deputies who would form the 57th state legislature. The six parties contesting the elections were, by acronym: PAN, PRI, PFCRN, PRD, PT and PVEM (this last one under "conditional registration"). Only the first three parties registered candidates in all 24 local electoral districts; the PRD did not register candidates in Cordoba and the PT did not register a candidate in Temapache.

The electoral trends pointed towards a greater balance of power after the elections; based on the last electoral results, the ruling PRI could have seen its number of representatives reduced, while the PRD and PAN would likely increase theirs. The then-current legislature was formed by 28 PRI deputies and 12 opposition ones, of which six were held by the PRD, and two each by the PAN, PFCRN and PPS.

The PAN had a strong presence in Cordoba, and felt confident of winning in the majority of districts of Orizaba, Cordoba and the port of Veracruz, where it won the municipal presidencies in the 13 November 1994 elections. The PAN presence—based on previous election counts—has been almost nil in the districts of Coatzacolcos, Cosoleacaque, Misantla and Martinez de la Torre. In the last municipal elections the PRI lost 59 of the 207 municipalities of Veracruz, including some of the important ones of the port of Veracruz and the Cordoba-Orizaba-Fortin industrial corridor. By the August 1995 elections the PRD feared being displaced by the PAN as the state's second political force.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References


La Jornada [Mexico City]. 6 August 1995. "En las demás entidades, denuncias de coacción priísta; se cree que ese partido conservará mayorías, con avances para PAN y PRD en Aguascalientes y Veracruz." [Internet] http://serpiente.dgsca. unam.mx/jornada/1995/ago95/950806/AGUAS00-0508.html [Accessed 4 Dec. 1997]

San Antonio Express-News [Tex.]. 26 November 1994. "PRI Concedes Defeat in Some Mayoral Races." (Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 21 Nov.-4 Dec. 1994, p. 3)

Attachment


San Antonio Express-News [Tex.]. 26 November 1994. "PRI Concedes Defeat in Some Mayoral Races." (Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 21 Nov.-4 Dec. 1994, p. 3)