The assassination in late September 1994 of Mr. Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the number two official in Mexico's ruling party, probably removed doubts about the difficulty of reforming the Country's political and judicial systems. Mr. Ruiz Massieu's killing was allegedly ordered by a federal deputy of the ruling PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) and a former tourism developer with strong links to a Gulf drug cartel. This alleged alliance has underlined concerns that efforts by Mexico's next president, Ernesto Zedillo, to reform the governing party will be met with fierce and violent resistance from those who stand to lose from these changes.
The assassination in late September 1994 of Mr. Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the number two official in Mexico's ruling party, probably removed doubts about the difficulty of reforming the Country's political and judicial systems. Mr. Ruiz Massieu's killing was allegedly ordered by a federal deputy of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and a former tourism developer with strong links to a Gulf drug cartel. This alleged alliance has underlined concerns that efforts by Mexico's next president, Ernesto Zedillo, to reform the governing party will be met with fierce and violent resistance from those who stand to lose from these changes.