Mexicans Block El Paso Bridge to Protest Vote

About 5,000 people, mostly supporters of Mexico’s main opposition party, blocked a bridge linking Texas and Mexico today to demand the annulment of an election they said was marred by fraud.

The blockade of the Bridge of the Americas began at 10:30 p.m. Thursday and was expected to end 24 hours later. The bridge links El Paso, Tex., and Ciudad Juarez, the largest city in the state of Chihuahua.

On the Mexican side, a helicopter briefly hovered over the bridge. On the American side, more than 60 U.S. Border Patrol agents, double the usual number, were posted.

At issue is the July 6 state election in Chihuahua, Mexico’s largest state.

Never Defeated

The governing Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was declared the winner in the governor’s race, in all 14 state legislative elections and 65 of 67 mayoral races. The party has never lost a major election in its 57-year-history.

The National Action Party, or PAN, alleged that the election was marred by massive, government-instituted fraud.

The demonstrators had walked to the bridge from a rally at nearby Chamizal Park where 150 PAN women ended a 48-hour fast.

Francisco Barrio, PAN’s gubernatorial candidate, said at the rally that the national government was stalling and not taking the party’s demands for new elections seriously.

Officials Not Convinced

Barrio, who resigned as mayor of Juarez to be able to run for governor, said he met with government officials in Mexico City on Tuesday. He said they were not convinced there was enough proof of electoral fraud.

“If during the discussions all the proof we showed was not enough, then we are going to take measures of political pressure to defend our rights with the utmost energy,” Barrio said.

Among those blocking the bridge were Barrio; his wife, Hortensia, who participated in the women’s fast; Gustavo Elizondo, who ran for mayor of Juarez; and his wife, Lourdes, who also fasted with the PAN women.

Only Bridge for Trucks

The bridge is the only one of four spans linking Juarez and El Paso that allows tractor trailers.

If the protests continue, an alternative route would have to be made available, U.S. Customs Director Don Sherman was quoted as telling the El Paso Times.

About 600 trucks use the bridge daily, he was reported as saying.