Print MEXICO CITY -- Concluding a violent campaign season Mexicans were voting Sunday in 15 states for local officials in an election seen as a test of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party’s ability to consolidate power nationwide The most important race is in Baja California the state that borders California and encompasses Tijuana a post that has deep symbolic importance for two of Mexico’s main political parties after six decades of uninterrupted rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party the party lost a state for the first time in its history as Baja California voters chose as governor a member of the opposition the National Action Party Baja thus became the launching pad for the PAN to unseat the PRI from the presidency in 2000 is determined to take the governorship back The Baja contest there is being fought bitterly with ugly accusations launched by both sides Polls conducted before Sunday showed a close race Only Baja California is electing a governor Sunday and a special election is being held in a 15th state to replace a federal congressman who was murdered About a third of Mexico’s electorate is involved relatives or campaign officials were killed and scores others threatened Although the violence has been as bad as in past election seasons when candidates for governor and even president were assassinated the incidents cast a pall over Sunday’s vote and may have discouraged turnout The campaign was also plagued by corruption scandals with PRI operatives shown to be resorting to old-school vote-buying tactics Syrian opposition group names new president Britain deports radical Muslim preacher for trial in Jordan Snowden should take Venezuelan asylum offer, Russian official says Politics World & Nation California Subscribe for unlimited access Site Map Teams of residents and fishermen have removed more than 100 tonnes of garbage from the Río Blanco in Veracruz in the municipalities of Ignacio de la Llave and Tlalixcoyan Authorities had previously estimated that about 60 tonnes of garbage were floating along a six-kilometer stretch of the river But the amount of trash that had washed into the river turned out to be a lot more Veracruz environmental authorities traced the source of the garbage to eight illegal garbage dumps mostly in the municipalities of Cuichapa and Omealca There are at least 300 tonnes of garbage in the landfills head of the state environmental protection agency a large amount of garbage was left on a bank of the Río Blanco in a dump in Cuichapa The garbage was then carried away by the river when the water level rose The trash has been contained in a lagoon to prevent it from reaching the main Alvarado lagoon system which is home to the biggest population of manatees in Veracruz a fisherman who works in the lagoon system told Televisa that the situation is threatening his source of livelihood and that’s bad because there’s a lot of pollution,” he said The garbage that was removed from the river is being taken to a landfill in the municipality of Medellín Source: Milenio (sp), e-consulta (sp) ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC