Cabinet member resigns. (Breves).

Federal Comptroller Francisco Barrio stepped down from his post in mid-March in order to serve as campaign director for the National Action Party (PAN) in its push to the July 6 midterm elections, in which all 500 seats of the Chamber of Deputies will be disputed.

Barrio's resignation comes two months after Foreign Relations Secretary Jorge Castaneda quit his office, although Barrio reportedly remains close to the president and is moving into a position in which he can better serve the party.

President Fox's efforts to pass reform legislation have been thwarted by an ineffectual, pluralistic Congress, and the upcoming elections are viewed as a key opportunity to create a legislative base from which to launch his initiatives.

Barrio is a former governor of Chihuahua and was appointed to the Cabinet post in December 2000. The anti-corruption czar of Mexico, Barrio turned down a previous request to join the PAN in the legislature, so his decision has led to some head-scratching across Mexico.

There is speculation from representatives of both the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which will likely be the main opposition to the PAN in this summer's elections, and the PAN that Barrio will run for popular election.