Billion-peso fine. (New Business).The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI PRI: see Institutional Revolutionary party. (Primary Rate Interface) An ISDN service that provides 23 64 Kbps B (Bearer) channels and one 64 Kbps D (Data) channel (23B+D), which is equivalent to the 24 channels of a T1 line. ) was hit with a I-billion-peso fine by the Federal Electoral Institute The Federal Electoral Institute (Spanish: Instituto Federal Electoral, IFE) is an autonomous, public organization responsible for organizing federal elections in Mexico, that is, those related to the election of President of the United Mexican States and to the election of (IFE Ife (ē`fā), city (1991 est. pop. 262,000), SW Nigeria. Located in a farm region, the city is an important center for marketing and shipping cacao. According to tradition, Ife is the oldest Yoruba town (founded c.1300). ) in mid-March, receiving what some called a long-overdue slap. PRI President Roberto Madrazo, right, painted the decision as a politically motivated joke and said it will transform the upcoming congressional elections into "a farce." The IFE board voted for the fine after finding sufficient evidence that the PRI failed to report a 500-million-peso donation it received from the union at state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) during its failed 2000 presidential campaign. Charges that PRI officials embezzled em·bez·zle tr.v. em·bez·zled, em·bez·zling, em·bez·zles To take (money, for example) for one's own use in violation of a trust. from Pemex are currently under investigation by the federal Attorney General's Office. Although the electoral watchdog is an impartial body, priistas claim the decision is part of a campaign to debilitate de·bil·i·tate tr.v. de·bil·i·tat·ed, de·bil·i·tat·ing, de·bil·i·tates To sap the strength or energy of; enervate. [Latin d the former ruling party and give the National Action Party (PAN) the seats it needs to back initiatives by President Fox, who has been handcuffed by a pluralistic and ineffective Congress. The ruling party has vowed to appeal the ruling. The fine, which was the largest in the nation's history, amounts to well over half what the PRI will receive in public funding for the upcoming campaign, but observers say the well-connected party will not have trouble raising necessary funds to compete in the July 6 elections. All 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies are up for grabs. Meanwhile, IFE continues to investigate charges the "Amigos de Fox Amigos de Fox was the name of the civil organization of support of Vicente Fox as the President of Mexico. This organization was created in 1999 by the late José Luis González González (a.k.a. " group laundered money to support Fox's successful campaign, so the PRI might not be the only party to taste FE punishment this election year. |
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