Vote Dispute Gets Violent in Mexico
Violence stemming from a disputed election erupted in the city of Monclova in Coahuila state, with protesters burning two buildings owned by politicians and overturning seven police cars.
Jose Mena, press officer for Coahuila Gov. Jose de las Fuentes Rodriguez, said police suspect that Friday’s violence was the work of members of the National Action Party (PAN) who refuse to relinquish the city hall. A clothing store and automobile body shop belonging to prominent Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) members were burned, he said.
Monclova, 150 miles south of Eagle Pass, Tex., is being governed, from two different locations, by officials of both PAN and PRI, who swore themselves into office.
The National Action Party, which has been in power in Monclova for the past six years, has refused to give up city hall, claiming victory in the Dec. 2 elections. The PRI candidate, recognized by the state government as the winner, is now operating out of a rented theater.
No violence was reported in Piedras Negras, which is across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass and which was the scene of rioting in late December in another disputed mayoral election.
Coahuila’s state government has declared PRI mayoral candidates the winners in both of the disputed races.
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