PRI Leader Says Mexican Party Is Committed to an Open System

Mexico’s long-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party is committed to a sweeping opening of the nation’s political system, but the party has no plans to self-destruct in doing so, a leading party strategist said Tuesday.

Roberto Madrazo Pintado, a federal senator from the state of Tabasco who also directs one of the ruling party’s key national committees, was in San Diego during a weeklong visit to California, where he is addressing various groups as part of a de facto public-relations campaign for the party.

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The trip, Madrazo said, is itself indicative of the continuing effort by the party--known by its Spanish acronym, PRI--to broaden its appeal, both in Mexico and abroad. President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the party standard-bearer, is orchestrating the “modernization” campaign, and Madrazo’s remarks reflect Salinas’ now-familiar views on the need for reform.

The PRI, which has dominated Mexican politics for 60 years, never losing a presidential race, has long been assailed by critics as an impenetrable, faceless bureaucracy geared principally to winning elections, enriching its supporters and ensuring smooth governing by steam-rolling the opposition.

Assisting the party to maintain power are many PRI-linked and bankrolled organizations that touch virtually every segment of Mexican society.

Many of the past criticisms of the PRI are valid, Madrazo acknowledged during a presentation at the UC San Diego Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, but officials are working to reform the party and the nation’s electoral mechanism to create a true multiparty democracy in Mexico.

He agreed, for example, that the nation’s voter registration lists--which include the names of 38 million registered voters nationwide--is marred by “grave irregularities” and needs to be revised.

But Madrazo, whose father was also a well-known PRI official and reformist, warned, “We don’t confuse self-criticism with self-destruction.”

That declaration will come as no surprise to opposition parties long frustrated by PRI functionaries’ long-perceived use of fraud, intimidation and other forms of manipulation aimed at enhancing their electoral efforts.

Opposition leaders in Mexico have accused PRI loyalists of using the same old tricks in recent elections, including the July races in Baja California.

In the Baja contest, despite allegations of fraud by PRI officials, a candidate of the opposition National Action Party won the governor’s race. Ernesto Ruffo Appel, who is to take office Nov. 1, will be the first opposition governor in Mexico’s history.

Wayne A. Cornelius, director of the center, noted that many PRI leaders have appeared “inflexible” and hesitant to change, despite the reformist proclamations of Salinas.

“We have made errors,” Madrazo said, vowing to correct the mistakes.