Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994 TAG: 9406210002
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MEXICO CITY LENGTH: Medium
Thursday night's resignation by Manuel Camacho Solis deepens a split in the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which is struggling to maintain its 65-year hold on power in a tight race for the Aug. 21 vote.
Camacho, a popular former Mexico City mayor, is standard-bearer for a pro-democracy faction in the PRI. Although he is not running for president, his resignation may cause backers to withhold their support from the PRI's candidate, Ernesto Zedillo, whose campaign is just gathering steam.
A loss for the ruling party, PRI, would profoundly change Mexico. No presidential election this century has resulted in one party handing power to another.
Camacho's resignation also adds uncertainty to the future of the Jan. 1 rebellion in southern Mexico, whose combatants have won sympathy from a broad group of Mexicans who want democratic and social reforms.
``The electoral contest of 1994 is turning out to be simply chaotic,'' wrote political analyst Federico Arreola in Friday's edition of the business daily El Financiero.
Camacho's action ``is opening a new stage in the political life of our country,'' political analyst Serge Sarmiento said Friday on Television Azteca.
The PRI has been shaken by the rebellion, the March 23 assassination of Salinas' first-choice presidential candidate, a sluggish economy and several major unsolved crimes that have fed public skepticism about the system.
In addition, political reforms have made the elections more competitive. Recent polls have shown Zedillo, the replacement candidate, in a close race with Diego Fernandez de Cevallos of the conservative National Action Party.
Last week, the rebel Zapatista National Liberation Army rejected a government peace offer negotiated by Camacho in March, but said it would maintain a Jan. 12 cease-fire.
Zedillo charged Sunday that ``the negotiation has been a failure.'' Camacho fired a parting shot at Zedillo in his resignation announcement.
``The position of the candidate of the PRI ... has been transformed into a kind of vote of censure of my work, which makes the construction of peace even more difficult,'' Camacho said.
Even President Carlos Salinas de Gortari seemed to chide his handpicked candidate. On Monday, he told reporters that the negotiations had succeeded in creating ``a political situation in favor of peace.''
The jolt comes just as Zedillo seemed to be finding his pace as a candidate. On Thursday, he spoke to what some newspapers called the largest crowd of his campaign, 30,000 to 50,000 people in Veracruz.
Election uncertainty led to heavy press speculation this week that Camacho might emerge as an interim president if disputed election results threatened to destabilize the country. Camacho has denied this.
by CNB