QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MXJNICIPIO — BRAND 



105 



elections of December 1946. As a result, the 

 ayuntamiento of 1947 was dominated by members 

 of the PAN. Although the State governor refused 

 to recognize the PAN ayuntamiento, and tried to 

 install a competing PRI ayuntamiento, apparently 

 the majority of the inhabitants of the municipio 

 of Quiroga have backed the duly elected group. 



THE AYUNTAMIENTO 



The two or three new regidores meet privately, 

 not later than December 20, with the three or 

 two regidores who will continue the ensuing year, 

 and by secret ballot the five municipes select from 

 among themselves a president and a syndic. On 

 the following 1st of January the new ayuntamiento 

 is installed in office, and the outgoing president 

 reports on his term of office. On the same day 

 the new ayuntamiento designates by majority 

 vote a secretary and a treasurer (not of their 

 group). The five regidores or municipes consti- 

 tute the true and complete ayuntamiento or town- 

 ship council. This council nominates the two 

 judges or jueces menores, who are often popularly 

 considered to be a part of the ayuntamiento (as 

 once they were in fact), but they and their secre- 

 tary are more properly to be considered as ad- 

 juncts of the ayuntamiento. The ayuntamiento 

 meets in the municipal building, locally termed 



Palacio Municipal, and is required by law to meet 

 at least once a week, and to keep minutes of each 

 meeting. Actually, there may not be more than 

 a meeting every 2 or 3 months. According to the 

 minutes, there were meetings in 1941 on January 

 1, April 7, June 18, August 10, and December 12, 

 16, 28, and 31; in 1942 there were meetings Jan- 

 uary 3, 10, and 13, April 28, May 23, June 20, 

 August 4 and 6, November 24, and December 10, 

 14, and 28; and in 1943 there were meetings Jan- 

 uary 1,4, 11, 18, and 28, February 10, March 15, 

 April 26, :May 27, June 11, 12, and 17, July 6, 

 August 3 and 9, October 21 and 29, and December 

 12, 15, and 29. A loose sheet inserted in the book 

 for 1943 carried a typed statement that no min- 

 utes were kept of four of the meetings in that year. 

 The sessions of the ayuntamiento are public unless 

 two-thirds or more (so the law reads!) of the 

 regidores vote for a secret or closed meeting. 



Although the present number of regidores is five, 

 the number to which the municipio of Quiroga 

 has been entitled has ranged as high as 12, and 

 during much of its history was 7. When we 

 began work in Quiroga the ayuntamiento for 1945 

 was composed as shown in table 21. The elections 

 of December 2, 1945, in the three odd-numbered 

 sections resulted in victory for the Sector Popular 

 in two of the three precincts. The resultant 

 ayuntamiento dm-ing 1946 is also shown in table 21. 



T.\BLE 21. — Composition of ayuntamiento in 1945 and 1946 



1945 



Name 



Section 



Date elected 



Party 



Residence 



Comments 



Prop. Leopoldo Gonzalez Leal-,. 



Sup. Manuel Huacuz 



Prop. Onfsimo Calderon 



Sup. Venancio Cuiriz , 



Prop. Heliodoro Anita Val , 



Sup. Feliciano Gabriel M 



Prop. 3. Encarnacion Medina F. 



Sup. Alberto Tovar A 



Prop. Daniel Coria 



Sup. Juan Gonzalez V 



Prop. Manuel Fuentes Torres.. 

 Sup. Gilberto Romero Fuentes. 



Sup. Venancio Cuiriz 



Prop. Ubaldo Chavez 



Sup. Salvador Barriga 



Prop. 3. Enc. Medina Fuentes.. 



Sup. Alberto Tovar A 



Prop. Amador Pena Valdovinos 



Dec. 5, 1943 



....do 



Dec, 3, 1944 

 do 



Dec. 5, 1943 

 do 



Dec. 3, 1944 

 do 



Dec. 5, 1943 



Campesino.- 



do 



do 



do 



do 



do 



Popular 



do 



Campesino.. 



do 



.do.. 



Quiroga. 



Santa Fe 



Quiroga 



Santa Fe 



El Calvario 



Santa Fe. 



Centro 



do 



Went to U. S. as "bra- 



cero." 

 San Andres 



Shot to death (acci- 

 dentally, it is said) 

 Dec. 29, 1944. 



Resigned. 



President. 



Syndic. 



1946 



Dec. 2, 1945 



do 



Dec. 3, 1944 

 Dec. 2, 1945 



do 



Dec. 3, 1944 



do.. 



Dec. 2, 1945 



Popular 



do 



Campesino.. 



Popiilar 



do 



do 



do 



Campesino.. 



Centro... 



do ... 



Sante Fe. 

 Centro... 



do... 



do.... 



do ... 



Calvario. 



Syndic. 

 President. 



