IRI to Observe Mexican Elections

June 15, 2000

WASHINGTON, D.C. —- International Republican Institute (IRI) Chairman U.S. Senator John McCain announced today that former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker, III will lead a 44-member delegation mission to observe Mexico's July 2 elections.

"I am pleased that such a distinguished statesman is leading the IRI delegation," Senator McCain said. "Jim Baker is one of America's most accomplished diplomats, and enjoys a worldwide reputation for integrity and balanced judgement."

"The upcoming vote is critical to Mexico's democratic development, which comes at an important juncture in the country's history," McCain said. "Recent polls indicate that this is the most highly contested presidential election in the 71 years since the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party took power. This will be the first presidential election under the 1996 electoral reforms, which transformed the Federal Electoral Institute into an autonomous and impartial body," McCain concluded.

The IRI delegation will meet with election officials, party leaders, and candidates to gauge the political climate and the preparedness of the Federal Electoral Institute before fanning out across the country to polling locations. IRI observers include experts in Latin America, election law, communications, foreign policy, and political affairs.

The members of the delegation are:

The Honorable James A. Baker, III, of Houston, Texas, is the delegation leader. He has served in senior government positions under three United States presidents. He was U.S. Secretary of State from 1989 to 1992 during the Bush administration; U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and White House Chief-of-Staff under President Reagan. His public service began in 1975 as Under Secretary of Commerce to President Gerald Ford. Currently he is Honorary Chairman of the James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas, a Senior Partner with the Houston law firm of Baker & Botts and Senior Counselor to the Carlyle Group.

U.S. Representative David Dreier, of Covina, California, is a member of the IRI Board of Directors. Representative Dreier was elected to serve California's 28th Congressional District in 1980. Since that time, he has become Chairman of the U.S. House of Representative Rules Committee.

Mayor Susan Golding, of San Diego, California, was elected Mayor in November 1992 and reelected in 1996. She established San Diego's first World Trade Center and proposed the NAFTA zone to develop the infrastructure necessary for transporting goods and services in the border region. Mayor Golding is a member of the IRI Board of Directors. She was a trainer for IRI in 1995 in Slovakia and an IRI election observer in Russia in 1993.

Dr. Delal Baer, of Washington, D.C., is the Senior Fellow and Chairman of the Mexico Project and Deputy Director of the Americas Program for The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). At CSIS, Dr. Baer analyzes Mexican domestic politics and North American free trade. She has written articles for the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.

Ambassador Everett E. Briggs, of Norfolk, Connecticut, was the President of the Americas Society from 1993 to1998. In his last post in his 37 years in the Foreign Service, he was the U.S. Ambassador to Portugal (1990 to1993). Previously, Ambassador Briggs served as Special Assistant to President Bush for National Security Affairs, with responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean. He was an IRI election observer for the 1994 Mexican elections.

Mr. Raymond J. Carroll, of Tucson, Arizona, has been serving Pima County as County Supervisor for District 4 since 1997. Prior to representing the people of Pima County, Mr. Carroll worked as an industrial specialist for Grubb & Ellis Commercial Real Estate Services and was the director of Sister Kathleen Clark Foundation for Casa de los Ninos.

Ms. Jana M. Chapman, of San Diego, California, is the Deputy Press Secretary for Mayor Susan Golding. Ms. Chapman was a curatorial assistant at the U.S. Supreme Court and has also worked as a press intern at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Juanita D. Duggan, of Washington, D.C., is the Chief Executive Officer of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, Inc. During the Bush administration, Ms. Duggan served as the Special Assistant to the President for Cabinet Affairs (1989 to 1990) and Executive Secretary, Domestic Policy Council in 1989. She was the Special Assistant to President Reagan for Public Liaison and Director of the Domestic Policy Division, Office of Public Liaison from 1987 to 1988.

Mrs. Melinda Andrews Fitzwater, of Deale, Maryland, is the Boeing Company's Manager of Special Programs, and develops and manages the company's Washington, D.C. events. She was vice president of the Susan Davis Events Group, Director of Logistics and Planning for the National Bicentennial Celebration of the Constitution, and Director of Special Projects for the White House Visitors Office (1981 to 1987).

Lt. Colonel Dennis O. Freytes (USA, Ret.), of Orlando, Florida, has been a management and human resources consultant since 1996, and was a member of Governor Jeb Bush's Policy Transition Team from 1998 to 1999. His international experience includes leading Army Mobile Training and Security Assistance Teams or other assistance/liaison missions to Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, Spain and Germany.

Ambassador Charles A. Gillespie, Jr., of Washington, D.C., was the U.S. Ambassador to three countries: Chile, Grenada, and Colombia. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Caribbean in 1993. Currently, Ambassador Gillespie is a Senior Associate with the Scowcroft Group in Washington, D.C. He was an IRI observer for the December 1998 Venezuelan Presidential elections.

Mr. David Gribbin, of Washington, D.C., is vice president of government relations for the Halliburton Company. Mr. Gribbin served as the executive director of the Republican Platform Committee for the 1996 Republican National Convention, and was the Chief-of-Staff for U.S. Senator Dan Coats from 1993 to 1996. He also served in the Bush Administration from 1989 to 1993 as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs.

Ms. Toni L. Hellon, of Tucson, Arizona, is a candidate for the Arizona State Senate, legislative district 12. Currently, Ms. Hellon serves as executive assistant to Pima County Supervisor Mike Boyd. She was Pima County Chief Deputy Recorder (1989 to 1992), served in the Pima Country Trial Court Commission, and is a member of the Hispanic Professional Action Committee.

Mr. Steve Johnson, of Silver Spring, Maryland, is a Latin America policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Mr. Johnson was director of the Central American Staff Working Group and head of the Editorial Division of the Public Affairs Bureau at the State Department as well as an assistant U.S. Air Force Attaché in Honduras.

Mr. Michael Kostiw, of McLean, Virginia, is Vice Chairman of the IRI Board of Directors. Mr. Kostiw serves as the Director of International Government Affairs for Texaco. He was an IRI election observer for the 1993 and 1995 elections in Russia, the 1994 and 1995 elections in Ukraine, 1994 elections in Mexico, and the 1998 elections in Venezuela.

Mr. Patricio Lombardi, of Tallahassee, Florida, is Florida's first Deputy Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs. Mr. Lombardi is the liaison between Florida and Latin American and Caribbean countries. Prior to serving in this position, he was a consultant with Greenberg Traurig Consulting, Inc.

Ambassador Thomas E. McNamara, of New York, New York, is President and CEO of the Americas Society and President of the Council of the Americas in New York City. He was U.S. Assistant Secretary of State (1994-98), Ambassador to Colombia (1988 -91), and Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (1991-93).

Mr. Caleb Charles McCarry, of Washington, D.C., is a professional staff member with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean for Committee Chairman U.S. Representative Benjamin A. Gilman. Mr. McCarry previously served as Vice President for Americas Programs with The Center for Democracy, a bipartisan non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Katja S. Newman, of Arlington, Virginia, is an analyst with International Technology and Trade Associates, Inc. in Washington, D.C. Ms. Newman observed Mexico's 1994 and 1997, as well elections in Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

Mr. Roger Noriega, of Washington, D.C., is a professional staff member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and previously worked for the U.S. House International Relations Committee and at the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Noriega was a member of the IRI observation team for the 1995 Haitian elections, the 1996 Nicaraguan elections, the 1997 Mexican elections, and most recently, the1998 Venezuelan Presidential elections.

Mr. Armand B. Peschard-Sverdrup, of Washington, D.C., is the Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Mexico Project, which analyzes Mexico's domestic politics, trade investment, and U.S.-Mexico bilateral relations. Prior to joining CSIS, Mr. Peschard worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in Mexico City.

Ambassador William T. Pryce, of Alexandria, Virginia, is Vice President, Washington Operations, for the Council of the Americas. He represents the Council to the federal government, the Congress, the Washington diplomatic community, and Washington-based international institutions. Prior to joining the Council in 1997, Mr. Pryce was the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras.

Dr. Cesar Rodriguez Rabanal, M.D., of Lima, Peru, is a doctor of Psychiatric Medicine. Dr. Rabanal taught in medical universities around the world, including Germany, Switzerland, and Peru. He has published numerous works discussing the effect of poverty and violence on society. He is President of Foro Democrático, IRI's partner in Peru, which trains pollwatchers and provincial journalists.

Dr. John Schwarz, M.D., of Battle Creek, Michigan, is serving his fourth term as Michigan State Senator for the 24th legislative district. In the State Senate, Dr. Schwarz was elected as President Pro Tempore by his fellow Senators. He is a practicing head and neck surgeon.

Dr. Andrew K. Semmel, of Washington, D.C., is the Legislative Assistant for Foreign Policy to U.S. Senator Richard Lugar. He has served as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, a Foreign Affairs Specialist in the U.S. Department of Defense and as Chief of the Analysis Division within the Plans Directorate of the U.S. Defense Security Assistance Agency. He served as an IRI election observer in Nigeria, Mexico and twice in Russia.

Mr. Brad Smith, of Washington, D.C., has been the chief-of-staff for U.S. Representative David Dreier since 1980. In 1998, Mr. Smith taught parliamentary procedure for IRI in Romania, and was an election observer in the 2000 Croatian elections.

Dr. K. Larry Storrs, of Rockville, Maryland, is a Specialist in Latin American Affairs for the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division for the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. Dr. Storrs has traveled extensively throughout Mexico, and observed the 1994 and 1997 Mexican elections with IRI. Most recently, he was a member of an IRI assessment team in April in preparation for the July 2 elections.

Ms. Angela Williams, of Alexandria, Virginia, worked from 1984 to 1998 at the University of Hawaii where she was the Director of the Pacific Business Center. While at the Center, Ms. Williams provided management, scientific, and technical assistance to businesses and economic development organizations in the State of Hawaii, the Territories of American Samoa and Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Freely Associated States.

IRI President Lorne Craner, IRI Vice President Grace Moe, and current and former IRI staff members round out the delegation of credentialed observers.

IRI is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing democracy worldwide. IRI has worked in Mexico since 1994 and has conducted more than 85 election observation missions around the world, creating an internationally recognized reputation for impartiality and professionalism in the analysis of fundamental democratic practices.

###

A nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing democracy worldwide