VZCZCXRO5059
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHMC #0277 2042111
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 232111Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3831
INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 4902
RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 9425

UNCLAS MONTERREY 000277 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KCRM MX
SUBJECT: POST-ELECTION FALLOUT IN MONTERREY 
 
REF: MONTERREY 0261 
 
¶1.   (SBU)  Summary.   Now that the PRI gubernatorial candidate, 
Rodrigo Medina, has won in Nuevo Leon, and local PRI candidates, 
in general, did better than expected, the political class is 
slowly adjusting to new realities.  While the 36-year old Medina 
has yet to reveal the members of his governing team, his 
election - as well as that of two youthful PRI mayors - has made 
it clear that the region's voters opted to given fresh, new 
faces a chance to deal with the state's pressing economic and 
security challenges.  Meanwhile, so far local PAN cadres have 
been able to avoid the blame game that often follows electoral 
losses.  Many are consoled by the hope of finding onward 
employment in Mexico City with President Calderon's 
administration or on incoming Monterrey Mayor Fernando 
Larrazabal's team.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
¶2.   (SBU)   Across both parties (PRI and PAN) the July 5 
election brought distinct winners and losers.  Clearly, Rodrigo 
Medina, the prevailing candidate in the governor's race, stands 
in the winner's camp, but so do a number of other political 
players as well.  First of all, youth has been served as the 
crop of PRI figures under the age of 40 (both in the public and 
private sectors) are excited about the possibility of receiving 
key posts on Medina's governing team.    Medina and current 
Governor Gonzalez Paras - Medina's principal PRI supporter - 
begin transition talks the week of August 3.  However, with two 
high-profile international events set to take place in 
September, the U.S.-Mexico Border Governor's Conference and a 
separate meeting on `Educating on Values,' Governor Gonzalez 
Paras doesn't intend to depart the stage just yet. 
 
 
 
¶3.    (SBU)   On the PAN side, incoming Monterrey Mayor - and 
former federal congressman - Fernando Larrazabal immediately 
becomes the party's most visible office-holder as he will soon 
take command  of Monterrey's mammoth city hall.   Larrazabal, 
who during the campaign told the Consul General that he would 
file a defamation suit against the PRI for suggested that he had 
hidden U.S. bank accounts, now appears to be willing to forgive 
and forget.   Outgoing Monterrey Mayor Adalberto Madero and 
outgoing San Pedro Mayor Fernando Margain, the PAN 
pre-candidates for governor who did not receive the nomination 
because national party headquarters handpicked another 
challenger, also are well-placed.  Madero, a former Senator from 
Nuevo Leon, told the CG that he planned to work in the Calderon 
Administration while rumors persist that Margain will do the 
same.  Indeed, it appears that Madero is being courted by all 
sides as the war chest he has amassed during his term as mayor 
through his efforts to drain the pockets of big business gives 
him the capacity to bankroll other potential candidates. 
 
 
 
¶4.   (SBU)  Both the city's big business community and 
Monterrey's leading newspaper, "El Norte," stand on the losing 
side.   Monterrey's industrial heavyweights - the Group of Ten - 
were vocal in their support of defeated PRI candidate Fernando 
Elizondo during the campaign.  Meanwhile, El Norte visibly 
leaned toward Elizondo all through the electoral process.  In a 
private conversation with the CG, El Norte managers noted that 
the city's television outlets had clearly favored Medina, 
providing him with the lion's share of the coverage and numerous 
opportunities to expound his platform in favorable, no-pressure 
settings. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU)   Comment.   As for more than two years Medina served 
as Governor Gonzalez Paras' Secretario de Gobernacion, Consulate 
leadership knows him well.    We believe that he'll move swiftly 
to bolster the state's law enforcement apparatus, a move which 
will allow him to rally both PRI and PAN supporters.  The byplay 
between Medina's increased focus on security and the inevitable 
(probably violent) reaction on the part of organized crime and 
the drug cartels will be the defining theme over the coming 
months. 
 
WILLIAMSON