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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Fox triumps in Mexico
71 years of PRI toppled
07/03/2000
By Alfredo Corchado and Laurence Iliff / The Dallas Morning News
MEXICO CITY â Maverick politician Vicente Fox ended the ruling party's
71-year grip on Mexico Sunday, winning the presidency by awakening hopes in
Mexicans weary of economic crises, corruption and a growing crime wave.
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Election photos
Exit poll results
Mr. Fox, of the center-right National Action Party, or PAN, faced not just
the ruling party's world-famous political machine but a divided opposition in
his 12-year political quest to make history in Mexico.
Shortly after 11 p.m. local time, President Ernesto Zedillo congratulated Mr.
Fox on his victory and promised to work closely with his successor to ensure
Mexico's first ever peaceful transition of power.
"The next president of the Republic will be Vicente Fox," said Mr. Zedillo,
whose Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, has ruled since 1929.
With 87 percent of the official count tallied early Monday, Fox had 43.4
percent and Francisco Labastida of the ruling party had 35.2 percent.
Preliminary turnout was a record 65 percent.
Mr. Fox, the former Coca-Cola executive and Guanajuato governor, was
comfortably ahead of PRI candidate Francisco Labastida, who conceded shortly
after the Mexican president acknowledged the ruling party's loss.
"The citizens have taken a decision that we should all respect," said Mr.
Labastida, in humbly conceding defeat. "I'll set the example."
In the first interview given to a news organization, Mr. Fox told The Dallas
Morning News that after Sunday's celebration â which came on his 58th
birthday â he would begin preparing for the transition that will take place
Dec. 1.
"This is historic and this is great for Mexico," he said. "This is the change
we have all been waiting for. And the challenge starts today."
He said he would meet Mr. Zedillo on Monday.
"We will work very closely with President Zedillo and certainly take all the
advice and the experience that exists in his government," he said. "We're
sure that we will work with harmony on all matters and we will keep and
continue advancing governmental programs and start to put together next
year's budget."
Asked about his relationship with the United States, Mr. Fox said:
"Fortunately, I do have a deep knowledge of the philosophy, the thinking of
the U.S. people. I'm looking forward with enthusiasm and excitement to the
future we can build. We are neighbors, we are friends, we must be partners.
We must have a common future, according to development, to jobs, to better
income, to good quality of life.
"And I'm absolutely convinced that through working together, through NAFTA
and through other institutions that we can build up for the future and make
sure that the two countries can win, win, win."
The polling firm Mitofsky International gave Mr. Fox a lead of 44 percent to
Mr. Labastida's 38 percent. And in a distant third was leftist leader
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, running for a third time, with 16 percent.
A separate exit poll sponsored by the U.S. bipartisan group Democracy Watch
also gave Mr. Fox a 6-percentage-point margin over his nearest rival. A third
sponsored by Mexico's National Chamber of Radio and Television gave Mr. Fox
43 percent to Mr. Labastida's 34 percent.
And a "quick count" of results at a representative sample of polling places
sponsored by the nation's highest electoral authority, the independent
Federal Electoral Institute, put Mr. Fox at 46 percent to Mr. Labastida's 37
percent.
"Should these tendencies be confirmed, it would be an end of an era," said
Televisa anchorman JoaquÃn Lopez Doriga. "It would be an expression of a new
Mexico."
On hearing the exit poll numbers, thousands of well-wishers surrounding the
PAN headquarters in Mexico City began chanting "We won, we won, this one is
for Mexico."
Thousands of Mexico City residents poured into the streets around campaign
headquarters and began gathering around the Angel of Independence, a national
monument in the capital, where they danced, cheered and celebrated the end of
71 years of PRI rule. Cars honked their horns in rhythmic unison, while
pedestrians waved Mexican flags or the white and blue colors of the PAN.
"This is something beautiful!" exclaimed Arturo Gómez, 46, who owns a
plastics factory in Mexico City. "After 71 years, it's about time."
PAN officials set up loudspeakers and a dais, where a party was expected to
last most of the night. In an election night irony, most of the intersection
around the Angel was decorated with h
