Document #1195885
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
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)