And politics is now part of a dark aphorism about how to get ahead in Tamaulipas, said Pablo Valderano Ferrer, who works down the street from L pez in a San Fernando auto parts store. You become either a politician, a drug trafficker, or put yourself to laundering the money of one or the other. The man spoke on condition of anonymity, because he, like many here and throughout Mexico, has been taught to believe that honest political opinions can have negative consequences. It's a kind of negativism that is hard to understand for those of us who were raised to be idealists. The foundation is working on ways of modernizing the party's selection mechanisms for candidates for state and federal posts.
Citizens see a reign of impunity and a system of corruption.
After years of being taken for granted, Mexicans are beginning to seek ways to express their political views other than within the confines of the traditional party electoral system, he argued. Vicente Fox, popular governor of Guanajuato from the PAN and running early and strong for the 2000 presidential vote, is a case in point, Mart nez-Chavarra explained. In many appearances, Fox discards partisan logos altogether. And he is getting a good response. While nobody expects armed guerrillas to show up on the beach here at El Chichonal anytime soon, continued frustration could cause Mexico's loyal voters to vote with their feet, and stop trudging to the polls each election day, Martnez-Chavarra said.