Mexico: Was Arturo La Bastida a former presidential candidate? If he was, during which year? If not, was he a well-known political figure?
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 29 August 2002 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | MEX39287.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Mexico: Was Arturo La Bastida a former presidential candidate? If he was, during which year? If not, was he a well-known political figure?, 29 August 2002, MEX39287.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3f7d4dcba.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information about a former Mexican presidential candidate named Arturo La Bastida could not be found among the sources consulted at the Research Directorate. The closest reference found to a person named Arturo La Bastida, is a Mexican rock musician named Arturo Labastida who played saxophone for the group El Tri (Purorock.com n.d.)
However, according to various reports, Francisco Labastida was a former presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario, PRI) in the 2000 Mexican presidential elections (BBC 30 June 2000; Guardian Unlimited 3 July 2000; New York Times 3 July 2000). Labastida, former interior minister for the ruling PRI government, ran as a presidential candidate and lost to Vincente Fox of the National Action Party (Partido Accion National, PAN) (ibid.). According to the New York Times, the results of the elections were as follows
With 92 percent of the vote counted Monday afternoon, Fox took the presidency with 42.8 percent, followed by the PRI's Francisco Labastida with 35.7 percent and Cuauhtemoc Cardenas of the Democratic Revolution Party with 16.6 percent (3 July 2000).
The BBC report provides an overview of Labastida's political career:
He entered the public service in 1962 and gradually rose through the ranks to become energy minister in 1982.
He was elected governor of Sinaloa in 1986, and worked for a year as ambassador to Portugal before being named agriculture minister in 1995 and interior minister three years later (30 June 2000)
For more information about Francisco Labastida please refer to MEX34754.E of 17 July 2000, MEX 34493.F of 5 June 2000, MEX32297.E of 21 July 1999, MEX31641.EF of 12 April 1999, MEX31909.E of 7 May 1999, and MEX 22912.E of 14 February 1996.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
BBC News. 30 June 2000. Kate Milner. "Profile: Francisco Labastida."
2002]
Guardian Unlimited. 3 July 2000. "Opposition Wins Mexico Election."
[Accessed 26 Aug. 2002]
New York Times. 3 July 2000. Julia Preston. "Challenger in Mexico Wins; Governing
Party Concedes."
Purorock.com. n.d. Gabriel Meza. "El Tri."
Aug. 2002]
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
Internet sites
El Universal [Mexico City]
Global Exchange
La Jornada [Mexico City]
LANIC
Resource Centre of the Americas
Search engines
Alta Vista
Google