Thread: Mexican lawmakers block Fox's speech

Mexican lawmakers block Fox's speech
By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press Writer
15 minutes ago



MEXICO CITY - Vicente Fox was forced to forego the last state-of-the-nation address of his presidency Friday after leftist lawmakers stormed the stage of Congress to protest disputed July 2 elections.


It was the first time in modern Mexican history a president hasn't given the annual address to Congress. Instead, Fox handed in a written copy of his report, and his office said he would address the nation in a televised speech later Friday.

A text of the speech Fox had planned to deliver to Congress called on Mexico to mend deep divisions that he said threatened the country's newfound democracy.

"Whoever attacks our laws and institutions also attacks our history and Mexico," he said, a thinly veiled reference to leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The opposition lawmakers took over the stage in Congress, waving Mexican flags and holding placards calling Fox a traitor to democracy. They ignored demands that they return to their seats, shouting "Vote by Vote" — a rallying cry for Lopez Obrador's bid for a full recount in the election.

They raised up leather-bound copies of the Mexican Constitution and flashed the victory sign. Fox left without entering the congressional chamber and the session was adjourned.

The standoff came six days before the top electoral court must declare a president-elect or annul the July 2 vote and order a new election. So far, rulings have favored ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon, who was ahead by about 240,000 votes in the official count.

Lopez Obrador has already said he won't recognize the electoral court's decision, and he plans to create a parallel government and rule from the streets.

Fearing violent protests, authorities earlier surrounded Congress for up to 10 blocks with multiple layers of steel barriers; attack dogs in cages, ready to be released; water cannons; and riot police in full protective gear. Entire neighborhoods were sealed off, preventing some of the city's sprawling markets from opening, and nearby subway stations were shut down.

Police used mirrors and dogs to inspect cars for explosives before allowing them to pass, and opposition lawmakers said police even tried to prevent them from arriving despite their credentials. Some said they were pushed and shoved by authorities.

"It's completely militarized around here. It is completely illegal, unconstitutional," Democratic Revolution congressman Cuauhtemoc Sandoval told The Associated Press. "Vicente Fox started out as a president, and is finishing up as a dictator."

Many had feared the deepening political turmoil over the election to replace Fox could explode into violence, but Lopez Obrador called on his supporters to remain peacefully gathered in Mexico City's Zocalo plaza, instead of marching on Congress as they had previously planned.

"We aren't going to fall into any trap," he told tens of thousands who waited in a driving rain to hear him speak.

Lawmakers from each party opened the session with speeches, many of which criticized Fox and listed his lack of accomplishments.

"Vicente Fox is a traitor to democracy, and even worse, he's leaving the country having turned it into a powder keg," said Edgardo Cantu of the Labor Party, part of Lopez Obrador's coalition.

The tense situation was a far cry from the optimism and enthusiasm that followed Fox's victory six years ago. That election ended 71 years of one-party rule and prompted the world to declare Mexico a true democracy.

Protesters occupying Mexico City's center said they were ready to do whatever it takes to support Lopez Obrador. Fernando Calles, a 26-year-old university professor, said he was ready to fight for the former Mexico City mayor "until the death, until the final consequences."

"We lived 500 years of repression, and now we represent the new face of Mexico," he said.

The tight election left the nation deeply divided, with Lopez Obrador — who portrayed himself as a champion of the poor — alleging that fraud accounted for an official count showing him 0.6 percent behind Calderon.

Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive, ushered in economic stability and brought inflation to record lows, but he has been unable to secure a migration accord with the U.S. or significantly reduce poverty.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060902/ap_ ... _elections

The opposition lawmakers took over the stage in Congress, waving Mexican flags and holding placards calling Fox a traitor to democracy.

Well this is a switch, Mexican lawmakers chastizing their ex president?

It sounds like a revolution is looming

sounds like trouble brewing in el barrio

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/w ... 421180.htm

Posted on Fri, Sep. 01, 2006

Fox refuses to address Congress

By Alfredo Corchado and Laurence Iliff

The Dallas Morning News

(MCT)

MEXICO CITY - A joint session of Mexico's Congress halted abruptly Friday night as members of leftist politician Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's party prevented President Vicente Fox from delivering his annual State of the Union address.

Fox handed a written report on the state of the nation to the president of the Senate in a reception area, minutes after arriving at the legislative complex. He made some brief remarks using a wireless microphone and promptly returned to the presidential residence, Los Pinos.

Two hours later, he spoke directly to the nation in a televised speech from his office. He stressed his government's success bringing democracy and transparency to the country. He also touted economic growth, conceding that poverty and lack of safety remained "an outstanding debt."

He added that the actions of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, were not a personal affront.

"This attitude, contrary to democratic practices, does not represent an offense against myself, but rather against the presidential office and Mexican society," he said.

The dramatic move in Congress by the PRD came seemingly on cue during remarks by Carlos Navarrete, head of the party's Senate delegation, who declared that "they have suspended guarantees that establish our constitution," referring to alleged vote fraud in the July 2 presidential election.

"This violation of the constitution cannot be accepted by this congress," he said. "I or my colleagues will not abandon (this stage) until those conditions do not exist."

With that, opposition lawmakers left their seats and filed down to the podium where the president had been scheduled to speak at 7 p.m., and began chanting "Out, out, out," and "Mexico, Mexico, Mexico."

The unprecedented scuttling of the presidential address, played out on national TV, was the latest escalation in Lopez Obrador's campaign to reverse results of the recent election. Results showed the apparent winner to be Felipe Calderon, of Fox's governing National Action Party, or PAN.

Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal said Monday that Lopez Obrador did not prove charges of vote fraud. The panel still must issue a judgment on the fairness of the election and address complaints that President Fox and business groups unfairly attacked Lopez Obrador and violated electoral rules by influencing the campaign.

Through spokesman German Martinez, Calderon called the PRD actions "regrettable."

As Fox left Congress on Friday night, triumphant PRD members rallied in the downtown central square, the Zocalo, where protesters have camped out for weeks.

But some analysts said the apparent victory could prove short-lived and costly for the party and Lopez Obrador.

The PRD made a huge miscalculation by disrespecting the president and turning him into the aggrieved party, said Ricardo Aleman, political columnist for the Mexico City newspaper El Universal.

"In the PRD's desire to get a little bit of payback because Fox and his candidate beat them at the ballot box, they turned him into the victim," said Aleman.

Recent polls already put Fox's approval rating at as much as 70 percent, a near-record high.

Friday night, Fox handed the written report to PAN Sen. Rodolfo Perez Gavilan, the Senate secretary.

"I have attended this congress of the union and I deliver the report corresponding to the last year of my term, " Fox said, handing over the file. "Because the action of a group of legislators makes impossible the delivery of the message I have prepared for this occasion, I leave this site."

Earlier in the day Lopez Obrador had decided that he and his supporters would not march on the legislative palace as expected.

"Let them go to hell with their institutions," Lopez Obrador told thousands of supporters over the rain drenching the Zocalo.

Leaders of the PRD said they wanted to avoid a confrontation with the thousands of police officers deployed around the Congress.

"We're here out of conviction and out of courage," Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico City's mayor-elect, said in the Zocalo. "We will not be provoked by Fox, that traitor to democracy."

Federal and municipal police and members of Fox's presidential guard had cordoned off San Lazaro legislative palace. Authorities deployed military-style tanks equipped with water cannons and tear gas and set up police checkpoints in surrounding residential neighborhoods. Government officials said the tanks were designed not to repress protesters, but to prevent physical contact between police and demonstrators should violence erupt.

Lopez Obrador loyalists and PRD officials had lambasted the security measures as an assault on Mexicans' constitutional right of free movement.

"They have suspended individual guarantees along various kilometers . . . and this is very serious," said Navarrete. "People cannot go to work, they are stuck in their vehicles (and) children cannot be taken to school by their mothers . . ."

The PRD and its supporters continue to block miles of city streets as part of their civil disobedience efforts. Their encampments on the principal artery, Paseo de la Reforma, cost businesses an estimated $15 million a day in lost revenue.

Given the decision not to march on Congress, the PRD actions in the chamber Friday night were not unexpected. "We were not going to stay with our arms crossed" PRD Sen. Pablo Gomez said Friday night.

Meanwhile, Fox supporters were not going to be provoked by the PRD's "lamentable decision," said PAN Sen. Santiago Creel, a former interior minister.

"We were not about to respond with violence to violence," he said, adding that Congress will have to transform the political system. "This cannot happen again."

But Lopez Obrador supporters in the Zocalo cheered the news that Fox was unable to give his speech. "The people united will never be divided," they chanted.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dallas Morning News news assistant Javier Garcia contributed to this report.

Originally Posted by Charlesoakisland

sounds like trouble brewing in el barrio

Charles,
I think we all need to send them 20 million more voters to protest in Mexico city. We all know where we can find 'em!

Originally Posted by sippy

Originally Posted by Charlesoakisland

sounds like trouble brewing in el barrio

Charles,
I think we all need to send them 20 million more voters to protest in Mexico city. We all know where we can find 'em!

see, seee, send the right away