Part 489

Administrative divisions: 31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave, Yucatan, Zacatecas

Independence: 16 September 1810 (from Spain)

National holiday: Independence Day, 16 September (1810)

Constitution: 5 February 1917

Legal system: mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced)

Executive branch: chief of state and head of government: President Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (since 1 December 1994) was elected for a six-year term by popular vote; election last held 21 August 1994 (next to be held NA 2000); results - Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (PRI) 50.18%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 17.08%, Diego FERNANDEZ DE CEVALLOS (PAN) 26.69%; other 6.049% cabinet: Cabinet was appointed by the president

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso de la Union) Senate (Camara de Senadores): elections last held 21 August 1994 (next to be held NA July 1997 for one-quarter of the seats); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats in full Senate - (128 total; Senate expanded from 64 seats at the last election) PRI 93, PRD 25, PAN 10 Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados): elections last held 24 August 1994 (next to be held NA July 1997); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (500 total) PRI 300, PAN 119, PRD 71, PT 10

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia), judges are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate

Political parties and leaders: (recognized parties) Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Santiago ONATE Laborde; National Action Party (PAN), Carlos CASTILLO; Popular Socialist Party (PPS), Indalecio SAYAGO Herrera; Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Porfirio MUNOZ Ledo; Cardenist Front for the National Reconstruction Party (PFCRN), Rafael AGUILAR Talamantes; Democratic Forum Party (PFD), Pablo Emilio MADERO; Mexican Green Ecologist Party (PVEM), Jorge GONZALEZ Torres; Workers Party (PT), Alberto ANYA Gutierrez

Other political or pressure groups: Roman Catholic Church; Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM); Confederation of Industrial Chambers (CONCAMIN); Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce (CONCANACO); National Peasant Confederation (CNC); Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT); Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC); Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers (CROM); Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic (COPARMEX); National Chamber of Transformation Industries (CANACINTRA); Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations (COECE); Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services (FESEBES)

International organization participation: AG (observer), APEC, BCIE, Caricom (observer), CCC, CDB, EBRD, ECLAC, FAO, G- 6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), OAS, OECD, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in US: chief of mission: Ambassador Jesus SILVA Herzog Flores chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: (202) 728-1600 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Albuquerque, Austin, Boston, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Corpus Christi, Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Loredo, McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Nogales (Arizona), Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, San Jose, Santa Ana, Seattle

US diplomatic representation: chief of mission: Ambassador James R. JONES embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal mailing address: P. O. Box 3087, Laredo, TX 78044-3087 telephone: (5) 211-0042 FAX: (5) 511-9980, 208-3373 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nuevo Laredo

Flag: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; the coat of arms (an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak) is centered in the white band

Economy -------

Economic overview: Mexico has a free market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Mexico entered 1996 on the heels of its worst recession since the 1930s. Economic activity contracted about 7% in 1995 in the aftermath of the peso devaluation in late 1994. Although Mexico City was able to correct imbalances in its external accounts, meet international payments obligations, and dramatically improve its trade balance in 1995, the domestic economy suffered harshly as the ZEDILLO administration stuck to a strict austerity program. The tight monetary and fiscal policies helped prevent spiraling inflation and kept government spending under control but drove interest rates to record heights, making it difficult for most Mexicans to service their debts. At the same time, consumers' reduced purchasing power made buying even necessities difficult for some. Many small- and medium-sized firms were unable to survive under the twin burdens of high interest rates and depressed domestic demand for their goods. Business closures and cutbacks fueled unemployment; more than 1 million Mexicans lost their jobs. According to the government and most private sector observers, the recession bottomed out in the third quarter of 1995, but the difficult year fed growing dissatisfaction with the ruling party, led to a crisis of confidence in President ZEDILLO'S ability to lead, and spurred increased tensions within the ruling party. While the ZEDILLO administration is optimistic that 1996 will bring some recovery - the government is forecasting 3% growth and 21% inflation - Mexico will face several key vulnerabilities, including the financial health of the banking sector, shaky investor confidence that could be easily jarred by more political or economic shocks, and increasingly emboldened dissenters within the ruling party.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $721.4 billion (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate: -6.9% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $7,700 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 8.5% industry: 28.4% services: 63.1%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 52% (1995 est.)

Labor force: 33.6 million (1994) by occupation: services 31.7%, agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing 28%, commerce 14.6%, manufacturing 11.1%, construction 8.4%, transportation 4.7%, mining and quarrying 1.5%

Unemployment rate: 10% (1995 est.) plus considerable underemployment

Budget: revenues: $56 billion (1995 est.) expenditures: $54 billion (1995 est.), including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries: food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: -7.5% (1995 est.)

Electricity: capacity: 28,780,000 kW production: 122 billion kWh consumption per capita: 1,239 kWh (1993)