PUEBLA, Mexico (AP)--The leader of the political party that ruled Mexico for 71 consecutive years said March 4 he favors changing some parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement, especially agricultural rules that have hurt some Mexican farmers.

The comments by Roberto Madrazo, president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, came at the party's 19th national assembly, where the group is trying to figure out how to stage a comeback after being defeated by President Vicente Fox in 2000.

"Ten years after NAFTA went into effect, it needs to be brought up to date, to respond to the needs of the people and especially of the farm sector," Madrazo told party delegates. The PRI has long relied on the votes of farmers.

On March 3, Madrazo said he would resign from his post before July if he decides to seek the party's nomination for president in 2006, but that did little to quell fears among other contenders that he would use his party post to get the nomination.

The assembly was marked by thunderous applause for Madrazo, and shouts of "Madrazo!" and "Unity!" as well as bickering, complaints and threats of walkouts by opponents.

On foreign policy, Madrazo also said he favors the PRI as "advocate of multilateralism" and a "party of social democracy."

On an issue close to the hearts of millions of Mexicans living in the U.S., Madrazo said the PRI "has always supported the right of Mexicans living abroad to vote." Congress recently voted to hold balloting on the 2006 presidential race among expatriates.

PRI members are expected to start nomination deliberations in July, a year to the month prior to the elections.

For decades, outgoing PRI presidents simply named their successors as PRI presidential nominees. Those nominees invariably went on to win the general elections, by fair means or foul.

In 2000, as part of the country's transition to full democracy, the PRI held an open primary vote to determine the nominee, but lost the general elections to Fox and his conservative National Action Party, or PAN.

One of Madrazo's leading rivals, PRI Sen. Enrique Jackson, was quoted by local news media as saying that he would resign his seat in the Senate if he were to make a primary bid for the July 2006 elections.

Madrazo also called on a group of prominent PRI state governors--all potential contenders--to resign those posts if they want to run. There was no immediate information on whether they would agree to do so.

The party congress, being held in central Puebla state, was marred when some delegates opposed to Madrazo walked out of the session March 3, claiming that he and his supporters were manipulating the outcome of the votes.

Madrazo met with state governors and other dissenters who belong to the group "Everyone United Against Madrazo," or TUCOM in its Spanish initials, on March 4 to try to negotiate a compromise.

"We have myriad differences that we have to resolve," Enrique Martinez, TUCOM member and PRI governor of northern Coahuila state, told a news conference following the meeting. "Ultimately, what we want is to have a competitive, modern and consistent party. We have a solid and competitive party for the 2006 elections."

All of Mexico's three major parties, which also includes the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, are struggling to present a facade of party unity in order to convince the electorate they are capable of running the country.

Date: 3/24/05