CHIHUAHUA CAPITAL WON'T BE MOVING TO BORDER CITY

EL PASO -- The Chihuahua state legislature has decided not to make
Juarez the temporary state capital.

Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza asked the legislature to consider
moving the capital from Chihuahua City to Juarez temporarily in an
effort to help the border city survive the ongoing drug cartel war.
The legislature voted the proposal down Friday.

Despite the defeat, Reyes Baeza vowed to find a way to help Juarez
rebuild and survive. He has ordered the state's departments of
eduction, economic development and health to be aggressive in finding
programs and funding to funnel to Juarez. The state agencies began
conducting public forums in Juarez on Monday.

Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said anything the state can do to help
the city rebuild is appreciated.

"We in Juarez are grateful that the governor's orders are to help us,
and we are hopeful that something concrete will come from the forums,"
Reyes Ferriz said.

The three state agencies began sending additional employees to Juarez
during the weekend, a day after the governor's proposal to move the
capital was defeated. Reyes Baeza's proposed move died because it was
backed only by the legislators belonging to his political party, the
PRI, Mexico's ruling party.

Members of the opposition party, the National Action Party, voted
against the move Friday.

Cruz Perez Cuellar, a PAN party official, said they voted against the
proposed move because the plan did not have clear objectives. The
governor's plan also never said how the move would help end the drug
war in Juarez.

Miguel Angel Gonzalez Garcia, a PRI party official in Juarez, was
disheartened by the decision to leave the state offices in Chihuahua
City.

"We lament the decision by the PAN party to not join our president in
trying to find a way to help Juarez," Gonzalez Garcia said.