Thread: Mexico's Calderon takes power as fists fly

Mexico's Calderon takes power as fists fly
By Kieran Murray
Dec 1, 2006, 19:52



MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Felipe Calderon took power as Mexico's president on Friday despite fist fights in Congress and angry protests from leftists who say he stole July's election and had vowed to prevent him from taking office.

Surrounded by bodyguards, the conservative Calderon slipped into Congress through a back door, quickly declaring the oath of office and putting on the presidential sash as left-wing lawmakers screamed "Get out! Get out!"

He was then rushed out again. The lightning-fast ceremony lasted just four minutes, including the singing of Mexico's national anthem, and Calderon was unable to deliver the traditional speech.

Conservative lawmakers cheered and chanted slogans, while the left-wing opposition blew whistles and jeered.

Dozens of rival deputies earlier threw punches and chairs at each other and leftists built barricades to block the main doors and try to prevent Calderon from entering the building.

Although Calderon's security team outwitted his political foes, the chaotic scenes underlined Mexico's deep political divide, and cast doubt on how successful Calderon can be in ending months of unrest following his razor-thin election victory.

Calderon, 44, wants to push pro-business reforms through Congress, where his ruling National Action Party holds just 40 percent of seats and needs opposition support.

Calderon replaced outgoing President Vicente Fox, an ally and fellow conservative, in a solemn midnight ceremony at the presidential residence in Mexico City. The later swearing-in sealed his taking of office.

STREET PROTESTS

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the fiery anti-poverty campaigner who was Calderon's election rival, led tens of thousands of protesters in a march across the capital to its main concert hall, where the president was to speak later on Friday.

"They violated the constitution and trampled on Mexicans' dignity. They imposed him with a coup, and we are living with the consequences," Lopez Obrador told thousands of supporters in Mexico City's vast central square.

Although Mexico's financial markets were closed on Friday, the peso currency dropped in trading abroad as fights broke out in Congress but partially recovered when Calderon was sworn in.

Former U.S. President George Bush, father of the current U.S. president, and Spain's Crown Prince Felipe were among the few prominent foreign dignitaries to see the chaotic inauguration ceremony.

"It's good action," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, best known for his Hollywood action movies, said dryly when asked about the brawls on the floor of Congress.

Calderon will be a key ally of the United States in Latin America, which has turned away from Washington in recent years with a string of left-wing gains in presidential elections.

A career politician who has an iron will but little charisma, he will also push for tax, energy and labor reforms and keep a tight rein on government spending even as he promises to cut the vast gap between rich and poor.

Calderon, a Harvard graduate and former energy minister in Fox's government, faces other serious challenges in trying to assert control over an increasingly violent country.

A vicious war between rival drug-smuggling gangs has killed nearly 3,000 people in the last two years, and the popular tourist city of Oaxaca has been wrecked by six months of violent street protests against a state governor.

In Calderon's home state of Michoacan, more than 500 people have been killed this year in a turf war over drugs.

Mexico won full democracy in 2000, when Fox swept to power in an election that ended seven decades of one-party rule.



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Mexican congress brawl

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dc84c35295


Nov 28, 2006 - Mexican lawmakers brawl in Congress in a deepening political crisis days before Felipe Calderon takes power. Rival deputies upturned furniture, punched and shoved each other and vied for control of the main podium, where Calderon is due to be sworn in as President.

year late Greg

I thought it was posted to explain the warm relationship between GW and Calderone. Birds of a feather and all that.

Originally Posted by kniggit

year late Greg

cnn has been reporting this all weekend
I Posted it here because no every did
Funny thing