Teaching Comparative

Mexican Brouhaha

The Mexican political situation is inching toward some kind of accommodation, if not resolution. Fox was unable to carry out his plans, Calderon may be handcuffed as well.

If Obrador and his supporters actually set up a "government in exile" in the streets of Mexico City, will that encourage democracy or an anti-democratic backlash?

These reports came from the New York Times, the BBC, and the Washington Post.

Protest Keeps Fox From Giving State of the Union Speech

"Leftist lawmakers who have charged that fraud marred the presidential election in July staged a protest inside Congress that prevented President Vicente Fox from making his final state of the union speech to lawmakers on Friday, ending a tense day of political brinksmanship here...

"Mr. Fox staunchly defended the balance of powers and the government institutions Mr. López Obrador claims are corrupt, notably the Federal Election Institute and the electoral tribunal. He also stressed that the rule of law was the basis of democracy and he took a veiled shot at Mr. López Obrador, saying 'no one should try to corral democracy through intransigence and violence.'...

"Rather than concede, Mr. López Obrador has promised to convene his own national assembly and set up a parallel government this month...

"For more than a month, thousands of Mr. López Obrador’s supporters have blocked the major avenue running through the city, Paseo de la Reforma, and camped out in the main square, Plaza de la Constitution...

"Earlier this week, an electoral tribunal charged with ratifying the election and resolving challenges threw out most of Mr. López Obrador’s arguments that there was widespread fraud. The court still must rule on his request to annul the election on grounds that the president and private businesses interfered too much in the campaign.

"Aides to Mr. López Obrador said he had acknowledged privately that the court would probably name Mr. Calderón president-elect next week.

"What form Mr. López Obrador’s protest movement will now take remains unclear, but it is certain to keep him in the public eye for the next six years and make it hard for Mr. Calderón to govern.

“'He’s saying to the government, "Everything that I am going to do is going to give you trouble,"' a close adviser said, speaking on the condition of anonymity."


Mexico deputies stop Fox speech

"There have been chaotic scenes in Mexico's Congress as left-wing deputies forced outgoing President Vicente Fox to abandon his final annual address.

"Before Mr Fox arrived, the legislators, who allege fraud in recent elections, marched onto the main podium where they shouted slogans and waved placards...

"It is only six years since Mexico became a multi-party democracy, and the events of the past few hours show that system is being put under intense pressure...

"While Mr Lopez Obrador's supporters may see what happened in Congress as a victory, President Fox still commands strong support ratings and such events may anger many Mexicans...

"Mr Lopez Obrador has suggested he might set up a 'parallel government' to rule from the streets..."


Mexican Lawmakers Block Fox's Speech

"In a historic rebuke, opposition lawmakers seized control of Mexico's congressional chamber Friday and blocked President Vicente Fox from delivering his final State of the Nation address...

"The incident deepened an ongoing political crisis in Mexico, where the dispute over the election to replace Fox has brought massive protests and chaos to Mexico City's downtown. More than any event in the past two months, the congressional takeover seemed to signal that López Obrador could create an effective opposition that would make life miserable for Felipe Calderón, the candidate from Fox's party who has apparently won the presidency by a narrow margin.

"The night's strange events were also sure to add to the checkered legacy of Fox, who improved the transparency of government but failed to achieve the revolutionary economic gains that he had hoped for after ending seven decades of one-party rule in Mexico with his victory in 2000.

"Instead of a grand farewell on Friday, Fox became the first Mexican president not to deliver a State of the Nation address to Congress...

"Fox's departure from the legislative building... capped a strange sequence of events... First, thousands of police officers in riot gear surrounded the legislative building, anticipating a full-frontal assault by thousands of López Obrador supporters.

"The masses of protesters never materialized...

"While the police waited for an onslaught that never came, López Obrador convened his latest in a series of dozens of 'informative assemblies' in the large downtown square, the Zocalo, where thousands of his followers have been camping for the past month.

"López Obrador's crowds had slackened in recent weeks, but on Friday there was a renewed sense of energy as thousands of college students, recently returned from summer break, poured into the square. López Obrador pounded the lectern, having once again seized center stage.

"While López Obrador spoke, and later as Fox was being turned away, Calderón -- the man who will soon likely lead this country -- was nowhere to be seen."

posted by Ken Wedding @ 8:52 AM