PRD's dour but well-known Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, a twice-defeated runner, now mayor of Mexico city.

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PRD, which last year saw Cuauhtemoc Cardenas elected mayor of Mexico city, is thrilled now to have won its first state governorship.

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Another Mexican substitute, the 37-year-old Cuauhtemoc Blanco, sealed the victory from the penalty spot after a third replacement, Pablo Barrera, had been felled in the box.

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Some Mexican historians still claim that another opposition candidate, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas from the PRD (the Party of the Democratic Revolution), was the real winner of those elections.

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Mr de la Madrid said Mr Salinas was picked because he had built a strong economic team of his own, but the choice prompted Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the son of a popular ex-president, to launch an independent candidacy.

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He is probably more worried about what political gains Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, mayor of Mexico city and the likely left-wing contender for the presidency in 2000, will make out of giving the pope the keys to the city.

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