Word: ruffo
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Democracy came to Mexico last week -- sort of. In the booming border state of Baja California Norte, Ernesto Ruffo Appel, the candidate of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), was declared the victor over Margarita Ortega Villa, the candidate of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (P.R.I.) in the race for governor. Once officially confirmed this week, Ruffo's victory will mark the first time in the 60-year history of the P.R.I. that the party has conceded defeat in such an election. "It is a decisive event," says political analyst Jorge Castaneda, "the first that will have an authentic historic...
...Ruffo victory is nevertheless regarded as a crucial turning point for the seven-month-old presidency of Carlos Salinas de Gortari and a watershed in Mexican politics. Salinas, who took office amid charges that he was elected by fraud, vowed that "opposition victories will be respected." He has led a forceful campaign against corruption by arresting powerful drug lords, businessmen and labor leaders. Yet he is still perceived as someone elected by and for the Establishment. The P.R.I.'s acceptance of defeat in Baja is considered a critical test of Salinas' ability -- and desire -- to enforce reform within...