Frontera NorteSur July-August  2004

In voting held on Sunday, July 4, 2004 the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI) retained the governorship of Chihuahua with the election of José Reyes Baeza Terrazas.  Another member of the PRI, Héctor Murguía Lardizábal, was voted mayor of Ciudad Juárez, a U.S.-Mexico border city that had previously elected two consecutive PAN mayors.   Juan Blanco Saldívar of the Partido Acción Nacional (National Action Party, PAN) was elected mayor of the state capital, Chihuahua City,  which previously had a PAN mayor. 

José Reyes Baeza Terrazas, Chihuahua's governor elect, was the candidate of the Alianza con la Gente (Alliance with the People) which was made up of the PRI, Partido Verde Ecologista de México (Mexican Ecological Green Party), and the Partido del Trabajo (Work Party).  Reyes ran against Javier Corral Jurado of the Todos Somos Chihuahua alliance (We Are All Chihuahua) which was composed of the PAN, Partido de la Revolución Democrática (Party of the Democratic Revolution) and Convergencia (Convergence).  As of Monday, July 5, Reyes had received 56% of the vote to Corral's 42%.  

The PRI candidate for mayor of Cd. Juárez won by a similar margin: 55% to 43%.  In that race Héctor Murguía Lardizábal of the PRI beat the PAN candidate Cruz Pérez Cuéllar.  

Juan Blanco Saldívar received 54% of the vote for mayor of Chihuahua City.  Martha Laguette of the PRI received 44% of the vote. 

Alianza con la Gente, which the PRI forms part of, won 17 of the state's 22 congressional districts.  Todos Somos Chihuahua won the other 5 districts--two of which were in Cd. Juárez and three of which were in Chihuahua City.  Alianza con la Gente was much stronger in rural areas but also won five Cd. Juárez districts and others in Chihuahua City. 

Source: El Norte, July 5, 2004. 

US Senator Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, introduced a resolution to the United States Senate on June 24, 2004 that "condemns the abduction and murder of young women in Ciudad Juárez and the city of Chihuahua", expresses condolences to the victims' families, and "expresses the solidarity of the people of the United States with the people of Mexico in the face of these tragic and senseless acts."

According to Bingaman's office, the proposed resolution is cosponsored by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a Texas Republican, and Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat.  

US Representative Hilda Solis, a California Democrat, introduced a similarly worded resolution in the House last year.  

“In 1993, the bodies of women began appearing in the deserts outside the city of Juarez, Mexico, marking the beginning of a horrendous epidemic that has plagued the United States-Mexico border region for more then 10 years.  Since then, more than 370 women have been killed,” Bingaman said.

“Unfortunately, these murders have continued into this year.  Nearly all of the cases remain unsolved.  In fact, many of the bodies of victims have yet to be positively identified.  One can only imagine how much pain and suffering this has caused the families and friends of these young women.  I want to make sure that these deaths are never forgotten, and that the governments on both sides of the border continue to give this issue the attention that it so rightly deserves,” he added.

The resolution also "recognizes the courageous struggle of the victims’ families in seeking justice for the victims", and "urges the President and Secretary of State to continue to express support for the efforts of the victims’ families to seek justice for the victims, to express concern relating to the continued harassment of these families and the human rights defenders with which they work."

The establishment of a DNA database to help families identify their daughters is also called for in the resolution. 

Mexican Government Reverses Statements Made by President Fox to Senator Coleman 

On Friday, June 18, 2004, while in Minnesota on a trade mission, Mexican President Vicente Fox told US Senator Norm Coleman that murder charges would most likely be dropped against Cynthia Kiecker, a US citizen imprisoned in Chihuahua City for allegedly murdering 16-year old Viviana Rayas.  

Kiecker, a Minnesotan, and her Mexican husband Ulises Perzábal, say that they were tortured by Chihuahua state police into confessing to killing Rayas in 2003.  Kiecker's claim of torture have been supported by the U.S. Consulate in Cd. Juárez and people that originally accused the couple of killing the young woman later recanted their testimonies saying that they were tortured into framing them. 

Now, less than a week after Fox's visit, the Mexican Embassy in Washington DC said that charges will continue against Kiecker.  What should have been relayed from Fox to Coleman was that it was the police officers accused of torturing the couple that will most likely not be prosecuted.  

In a letter to the Mexican government after its reversal, Coleman wrote "In particular, you, Undersecretary Gutierrez, and Ambassador Icaza assured me that the state had decided not to prosecute the Kiecker case and that the only remaining obstacle to her release was the right of the victim's family to pursue a civil case." 

"Clearly, you can appreciate the outrage of the Kiecker family and all Minnesotans, including this United States senator," he added. "Mr. President, while you were in my home state of Minnesota, you made a firm commitment to me and the people of Minnesota that this case would not be prosecuted, and it is my most sincere hope that Mexico will stand by your commitment."

Carol Kiecker, mother of Cynthia, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that "I'm having a fit, needless to say.  I don't think Fox made a mistake; how could he misunderstand a memo like that? This is not OK to have the president of Mexico come to Minnesota and say things in order to get trade agreements, then say, 'Oops, I made a mistake.' "

The case against Kiecker and Perzábal continues partly because a recent state DNA test came back which confirms that the body allegedly linked to the couple is that of Viviana Rayas.  However, neither the Rayas family nor the defense trusts the governments result.  New tests could mean delays in the ongoing trial of Kiecker and Perzábal. 

Sources:
Fort Worth Star Telegram, June 25, 2004
Minneapolis Star Tribune, June 25, 2004.  Article by Jon Tevlin. 

With a use it or lose it deadline approaching and nearly 50% more money to spend on civic projects than last year, employees at the Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana (State Public Services Commission of Tijuana, CESPT) are asking for patience and understanding from city residents who are inconvenienced by its construction projects.  

According to Manuel Ocejo Miramontes, the assistant director of construction at CESPT, there may be more projects underway in Tijuana at the present time than there ever have been in the past.  Ocejo told the Tijuana newspaper Frontera (no relation to FNS) that there are 1,500 people working on 150 projects in the city.  Of these projects, CESPT is running 40 of them and 110 have contracted out to companies.  

Last year Tijuana spent 450 million pesos on water projects.  This year the city has 637 million pesos to spend.  The money comes from the state and federal governments as well as "Japanese credit."  However, if some of the money is not spent before a certain time CESPT will lose unspent funds. 

Among the plans Tijuana has for bettering the city is the installation of 200 kilometers of pipes of various widths.  

Although streets throughout Tijuana occasionally have to be closed, Ocejo says CESPT attempts to disrupt city life as little as possible. 

Source: Frontera (Tijuana), August 26, 2004.  Article by Agustín Pérez Aguilar.