MAKING A DIFFERENCE Fervor propels many to the polls; GUANAJUATO: The PAN candidate gave some people a reason to cast ballots.

By Minerva Canto

The Orange County Register

July 3, 2000:

Eighty-year-old Pedro Gutierrez went to the polls for the first time in his life Sunday so he could help try to end the decades-long reign of the ruling party.

And he did so by backing for president a man whose home is just a few miles from his.

All his life, Pedro said, he has watched politicians enact policies that didn't benefit the poor, forcing millions of Mexicans, like his cousin Olegario Gutierrez of Santa Ana, to find jobs and homes in the United States.

But he and Maria Marquez, his wife of 58 years who also voted for the first time Sunday, believe in Vicente Fox, the first man in history with a real chance at wrenching the presidency from the Revolutionary Institutional Party in its 71-year history.

"Voting didn't make a difference before. Now I hope it does," said Pedro, who began working at age 12 and still works 12 hours a day, six days a week at his small shoe factory.

"All PRI politicians are gutless.," said Maria, as she held her new photo identification voting card. "But Fox is different. Fox is not a lifelong politician. He knows what hard work is because he grew up on a ranch and he worked his way up in a large company. This is why we decided it was time to vote, time for a change."

LOCAL HERO

Olegario, Pedro and Maria all grew up in San Francisco del Rincon, a city of about 100,000 a few miles outside Leon and a few miles from the Fox ranch.

Here, it's easy to catch "foxism," a condition that grips the most fervent Fox fans.

Perhaps it's because Fox grew up in the nearby Rancho San Cristobal, where the businessman-turned-politician said he first learned about class inequities by playing with poor neighborhood children.

Maybe it's because Fox has been governor of Guanajuato, where he reportedly reduced unemployment from 6.9 percent to 1.9 percent.

Or it could be that Fox is reaping the benefits of strong PAN rule that first began when one of its candidates snatched the Leon mayoralty from PRI.

Guanajuato, one of five Mexican states with the most registered voters, currently has 50 PAN elected officials, compared to PRI's 38 and the Democratic Revolution Party's 12.

PAN officials in this state were counting on the loyalty of people pleased with changes made by them.

"Of course we have a lot of Fox fans here. That's a given because we have PAN officials elected mayor, governor and numerous other offices," said PAN state headquarters spokesman Alejandro Cervantes.

Olegario, owner of small welding shop in Santa Ana, said he likes Fox because of his proposals that would extend the riches of NAFTA to small-and medium-size businesses like his.

"All the PRI policies pushed me out. I even tried going to Tijuana, but it didn't work," said Olegario, who left Mexico in 1985.

LIGHTING CANDLES

For the Gutierrez family in Mexico, "foxism" reigns.

Pedro and Maria lit a candle in prayer before the polls opened, asking God that Fox win the presidency. They placed the candle at the entrance of their living room. Other Gutierrez members did the same. All family members, many of them also owners of their own small shoe factories, voted for Fox and other PAN candidates.

"I tell my children, vote for PAN because I would like the next president to say to his people, `Gentlemen, hands off of the funds. Those belong to the people, for better services for them,"' said Hector Gutierrez, Pedro's son.

Hector, who had to wait about an hour to vote because there was already a line of about 80 people when he arrived at the voting booth, said Fox created an agency that has helped him market and export his shoes to the United States and Canada.

"We're going to give Fox the victory," said Pablo Gutierrez, who owns the factory with his father, Hector.

But not all in Leon are sold on Fox.

Taxi driver Alfredo Lira, who placed several PRI stickers on his car, said he has debated with family members and friends who are Fox fans.

"At one time I even thought of going north illegally, but I didn't and now I'm glad I didn't," Lira said.

"Through a PRI program, I was able to buy a house. I'm still paying it off, but it's my house and it wouldn't have been possible without PRI."

For his part, Fox celebrated his 58th birthday at his ranch near here Sunday with an early morning serenade by a mariachi, who sang "Las Mananitas," a traditional Mexican birthday song. Fox flashed the victory sign before voting in his home district and then flying to Mexico City.