According to a New York Times article,

José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the eldest son of a prominent Acapulco doctor, had forged a political alliance with Carlos Salinas by the time the two had finished their studies at the national university. ...After graduate studies in political science at the University of Essex, in England, José Francisco Ruiz Massieu returned to Mexico City and married Carlos Salinas's younger sister, Adriana. He began moving through a series of Government posts, helping his brother, Mario [former attorney general under Salinas de Gortari presidency] rise along with him. (14 June 1995)

The article further reports that it was then president of Mexico, Miguel de la Madrid [1982-1988], who chose both José Francisco Ruiz Massieu to be the governor of the State of Guerrero and Carlos Salinas de Gortari to succeed him as president (ibid.).

José Francisco Ruiz Massieu "governed Guerrero, a poor, central pacific Coast state noted for violence and drug cultivation, from 1987 to 1993. This year [1994], he became No. 2 man in the governing party [PRI] and was elected to congress in August" (The Charleston Gazette, 1 Oct. 1994).

During his governorship of the State of Guerrero, Ruiz Massieu's administration "was blamed for several political killings and a dozen disappearances" (NYT, 14 June 1995).

In a broadcast following the assassination of José Francisco Ruiz Massieu on 28 September 1994, then president elect Ernesto Zedillo declared that Ruiz Massieu had been director-general of the Institute of the National Fund for Workers Housing (Infonavit) and was a member of the social development cabinet during his period as governor of Guerrero. He was also secretary-general of the PRI during Zedillo's political campaign in 1994 and served as coordinator of the PRI's elected deputies (BBC, 30 Sept. 1994).

Latin American Weekly Report stated that

Ruiz Massieu had certainly emerged as a key 'pro-reform' figure. ... He had spoken about the need to reform the PRI and to separate the party from the state. Close to Salinas and a former member of the PRI's ideology commission, Ruiz Massieu had apparently been charged with leading the reform in congress, to which he had just been elected. Not long before his death he had been duly elected as co-ordinator of the PRI bloc in the chamber of deputies, and it was taken for granted that, no sooner had the new congress convened, he would be elected leader of the chamber of deputies (13 Oct. 1994, 459)

Information on the name of the Secretary of State when José Francisco Ruiz Massieu was Governor, the political background of Manuel Quezada Romero; whether he was Secretary of State of Guerrero during José Francisco Ruiz Massieu' term as governor, and details about Quezada's current political position could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

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. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 30 September 1994. "President-elect Zedillo Reacts To Ruiz Massieu's Assassination." (NEXIS)

The Charleston Gazette. 1 October 1994. "Arrest Made In Assassination Case." (NEXIS)

Latin American Weekly Report. 13 October 1994. "Top PRI Reformer Is Assassinated."

The New York Times. 14 June 1995. Tim Golden. "A Tale of 2 Mexican Brothers, Hinting at Dark Deeds in a Murky System." (NEXIS)

International Who's Who 1988-89. 1988. 52nd ed. London: Europa Publications Limited.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1991-1994.

Latin American Regional Reports: Mexico and NAFTA Report [London]. 1994-1995.

Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. 1993-1994.

NACLA Report on the Americas. Jan.-Feb. 1997. Vol. 30. No. 4. "Contesting Mexico".

The Other Side of Mexico [Mexico City]. 1997-1998.

Russell, Philip L. Mexico under Salinas. 1994. Austin, TX: Mexico Resource Center.

Electronic Sources: IRB Databases, Global News Bank, Lexis/Nexis, Internet, REFWORLD, World News Connection (WNC).