MEXICO . . . OPPOSITION'S HISTORIC VICTORY

Mexico's largest opposition party won its biggest-ever electoral victory in a gubernatorial race and dozens of municipal contests, cracking the edifice of the ruling PRI party's 66 years of nationwide, single-party rule. Vote counts today gave the National Action Party the governorship of the state of Jalisco, a majority in that state's legislature, and control of 90 of 124 city halls. Among them: Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city. President Ernesto Zedillo promised free and fair elections when he was campaigning as a PRI reform candidate. In the past, the PRI had contested nearly all losing votes, but this time the government is making good on Zedillo's pledge.