Ernesto Ruffo Appel

Amid assassinations, drug violence and political combat, Ernesto Ruffo Appel still projects the image of the down-to-earth businessman who five years ago became Mexico's first opposition governor. The signs of changing times are unmistakable, however. The man who once shunned ostentatious entourages, mixing easily with dockworkers and Japanese investors alike, now travels around Baja California with a phalanx of wary bodyguards.

The governor's final days were tinged with melancholy, triumph and a sense of power dissipating in a departing leader's wake. During an official visit to Tijuana before Gov. Ernesto Ruffo Appel stepped down last week, bodyguards in cowboy boots lounged in a hallway, unusually relaxed after months on full alert, and journalists and officials jockeyed for one last audience. Inside, Ruffo held court in characteristic style: sleeves rolled up, no necktie, no retinue of aides with note pads.

In a display of Mexico's growing political pluralism, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari delivered his first state-of-the-nation speech Wednesday amid jeers from hostile lawmakers, then flew to this northern city to attend the inauguration of the country's first opposition governor.

Amid assassinations, drug violence and political combat, Ernesto Ruffo Appel still projects the image of the down-to-earth businessman who five years ago became Mexico's first opposition governor. The signs of changing times are unmistakable, however. The man who once shunned ostentatious entourages, mixing easily with dockworkers and Japanese investors alike, now travels around Baja California with a phalanx of wary bodyguards.

Leaders of Mexico's ruling party and of the strongest opposition party both declared victory Monday in Baja California's hotly contested governor's race, setting the stage for what could be a protracted and historic battle over the results of Sunday's elections.

In a historic decision, Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has dominated national and local politics for six decades, announced Tuesday that its candidate had been defeated in Sunday's gubernatorial election in the northern state of Baja California. It would be the first loss in a governor's race in the 60-year history of the ruling party, known as the PRI. The apparent victor in the hotly contested gubernatorial race is Ernesto Ruffo Appel, a 37-year-old, U.S.

The governor's final days were tinged with melancholy, triumph and a sense of power dissipating in a departing leader's wake. During an official visit to Tijuana before Gov. Ernesto Ruffo Appel stepped down last week, bodyguards in cowboy boots lounged in a hallway, unusually relaxed after months on full alert, and journalists and officials jockeyed for one last audience. Inside, Ruffo held court in characteristic style: sleeves rolled up, no necktie, no retinue of aides with note pads.

With the inauguration this week of Ernesto Ruffo Appel as the first opposition governor in modern Mexico, the state of Baja California becomes a laboratory for Mexico's experiment in political pluralism. For six decades the Institutional Revolutionary Party has held the presidency, every governorship, majorities in the national congress and in all the state legislatures. The PRI, as it is called, has dominated public life.

There were two winners in the Baja California governor's election last weekend. The first was Ernesto Ruffo Appel, the rightist National Action Party candidate whose victory at the polls means that he will serve as the first opposition state governor in the history of Mexico. The other was President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Salinas, whose own election was seriously questioned last year, earned immeasurable credibility by accepting the ruling party's unprecedented defeat.

She is a new-era candidate with an old-style political campaign. An accomplished woman with a corruption-free record, Margarita Ortega Villa, 38, was President Carlos Salinas de Gortari's handpicked choice for the next governor of Baja California. After proclaiming her dedication to Salinas' program of political reform and "modernization" last week, Ortega hauled out the pork barrel for a business-as-usual rally.

Baja California Gov. Ernesto Ruffo publishes the state's ledger sheet every month in local newspapers. His administration has stopped the age-old practice of paying journalists friendly to the government. And he has threatened to jail officials caught taking bribes.

With the inauguration this week of Ernesto Ruffo Appel as the first opposition governor in modern Mexico, the state of Baja California becomes a laboratory for Mexico's experiment in political pluralism. For six decades the Institutional Revolutionary Party has held the presidency, every governorship, majorities in the national congress and in all the state legislatures. The PRI, as it is called, has dominated public life.

In a display of Mexico's growing political pluralism, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari delivered his first state-of-the-nation speech Wednesday amid jeers from hostile lawmakers, then flew to this northern city to attend the inauguration of the country's first opposition governor.

There were two winners in the Baja California governor's election last weekend. The first was Ernesto Ruffo Appel, the rightist National Action Party candidate whose victory at the polls means that he will serve as the first opposition state governor in the history of Mexico. The other was President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Salinas, whose own election was seriously questioned last year, earned immeasurable credibility by accepting the ruling party's unprecedented defeat.

In a historic decision, Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has dominated national and local politics for six decades, announced Tuesday that its candidate had been defeated in Sunday's gubernatorial election in the northern state of Baja California. It would be the first loss in a governor's race in the 60-year history of the ruling party, known as the PRI. The apparent victor in the hotly contested gubernatorial race is Ernesto Ruffo Appel, a 37-year-old, U.S.

Leaders of Mexico's ruling party and of the strongest opposition party both declared victory Monday in Baja California's hotly contested governor's race, setting the stage for what could be a protracted and historic battle over the results of Sunday's elections.

In the small plaza directly in front of City Hall here, demonstrators recently strung huge signs of protest between the stately palms that shade the colonial-style structure. The high-profile display of discontent was aimed at the building's principal occupant--Ernesto Ruffo Appel, the mayor of this fast-growing coastal city and the first-ever mayor from the opposition National Action Party in the border state of Baja California.

Baja California Gov. Ernesto Ruffo publishes the state's ledger sheet every month in local newspapers. His administration has stopped the age-old practice of paying journalists friendly to the government. And he has threatened to jail officials caught taking bribes.

She is a new-era candidate with an old-style political campaign. An accomplished woman with a corruption-free record, Margarita Ortega Villa, 38, was President Carlos Salinas de Gortari's handpicked choice for the next governor of Baja California. After proclaiming her dedication to Salinas' program of political reform and "modernization" last week, Ortega hauled out the pork barrel for a business-as-usual rally.

In the small plaza directly in front of City Hall here, demonstrators recently strung huge signs of protest between the stately palms that shade the colonial-style structure. The high-profile display of discontent was aimed at the building's principal occupant--Ernesto Ruffo Appel, the mayor of this fast-growing coastal city and the first-ever mayor from the opposition National Action Party in the border state of Baja California.