DECADES IN THE MAKING

Guanajuato Swells With Political Pride

CULTURE: Residents near Fox's hometown of San Francisco del Rincon are jubilant.

By Minerva Canto

The Orange County Register

July 4, 2000

LEON, Mexico — They began the day celebrating a victory that has its roots in their city.

Waving everything from oversized Mexican flags to cowboy boots, hundreds of people were in the streets early Monday, screaming and jumping for joy that Vicente Fox of Guanajuato succeeded in overturning the world's longest-governing political party.

The main avenue in the city was clogged with cheering Fox fans and honking cars for more five hours.

The celebration of the dawning of a new Mexico lasted well into the day here in the heartland of the National Action Party (PAN), which toppled the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) after 71 years of rule with the July 2 election.

At a Monday evening rally to celebrate historic PAN victories, supporters chanted, alternating from shouts of "Vicente!" to "Fox," to "We did it!" Some broke out singing the Mexican hymn.

"Here is where it began and for that we are very proud," said Maria Lopez Hurtillo, 54, a lifelong Leon resident and housewife who waved a large flag emblazoned with the blue-and-white PAN logo. "People all over Mexico are proud and happy today, but the people of Guanajuato know first-hand that he is a good man, a good businessman and a good politician."

Fox's win was the headliner act in a victorious election for PAN candidates, who captured the two state governor posts at stake, including Guanajuato, and more seats in congress than any other party. It was a historic moment for a party born in 1939. While the PAN has strong regional support in states such as Baja California and Guanajuato, it has had difficulty making deep inroads into PRI dominance nationally.

"Mexicans, we did it! In this blessed land of Guanajuato, we were able to plant the seed of independence," Luis Ernesto Ayala, a PAN candidate slated to be the next Leon mayor, told supporters at a rally.

Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive who never abandoned his taste for cowboy boots after leaving the ranch where he grew up just a few miles outside Leon, first left the business world when he was elected Guanajuato state representative out of Leon in 1988. Fox's popularity soared in the state after he was elected Guanajuato governor in 1995. Many detractors criticized his frequent trips outside the state, including an August 1998 visit to Santa Ana, but his supporters say those trips helped boost exports in his home state.

On Monday, Fox's ties to Guanajuato had even former residents claiming the 6-foot-5 politician as their hometown hero.Rafael Allende, 34, a waiter in San Juan Capistrano who is originally from Celayo, Guanajuato, wept with joy upon hearing the news.

"I'm not a sissy or anything, but you have to understand that this is the dream of a lifetime for many Mexicans, especially poor ones like me," Allende said.

Olegario Gutierrez, another former Guanajuato resident and owner of a welding shop in Santa Ana, said Fox will give Mexico the makeover it needs.

"Mexico needs a total change in ideas and ideals, and Fox has that," said Gutierrez, who grew up in and still has relatives in San Francisco del Rincon, the same city where Fox grew up and has a ranch.

Pedro Gutierrez, Olegario's 80-year-old cousin, was elated that his vote helped usher change into Mexico. Pedro, a lifelong San Francisco del Rincon resident, voted for the first time Sunday because Fox is the first politician he has ever believed will be good for the country.

"All of the things he did as governor were very good and honest. He played a very important role," said Pedro, a shoe factory owner. "And now, all of his proposals are magnificent, absolutely magnificent! He's going to do good things for Mexico and Mexicans. I'm sure of it, 100 percent."