(Mexico) Fox clears the way for Lopez Obrador to run in election

[UpInArms]

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/5a432256-b851-11d9-bc7c-00000e2511c8.html

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico City's mayor, yesterday welcomed President Vicente Fox's move in effect to shelve criminal charges against him, clearing the way for the mayor to run in next year's presidential elections.

Under pressure to defuse a growing political crisis, Mr Fox made a television address to the nation on Wednesday night to announce that he had accepted the resignation of Rafael Macedo de la Concha, the attorney-general, who had been pursuing the case against Mr López Obrador.

A new attorney-general would review the case "exhaustively", Mr Fox said. Most analysts interpreted this to mean that any charges against the mayor had been put on hold indefinitely.

If any doubts remained over a case beset by confusion in recent weeks, they appeared to be cleared up yesterday by the presidential spokesman, Rubén Aguilar. Asked whether the case against Mr López Obrador had been shelved, Mr Aguilar demurred before saying: "You could say that it has."

...more...

:thumbsup:

[hedda_foil]

1. Wow! Fox blinked.

Mexico must have been on the brink of revolution over Obrador's threatened disqualification on those trumped up charges. Fox would never have given in for anything less. Obrador's too popular.

[UpInArms]

4. Mexico: 1.2 million march in defence of Lopez Obrador

More than a million demonstrate in Mexico City

More than 1.2 million people took to the streets of Mexico City on Sunday April 24 in the so-called “March of Silence” to protest against the politically motivated case against Mexico City’s mayor, and the country’s most popular presidential candidate, Lopez Obrador.

The attacks against Lopez Obrador have backfired on Vincente Fox and the Mexican ruling class, and the balance of forces is now tipped heavily in favour of Lopez Obrador and the mass movement. The legal case against him lies in ruins, and his removal from office has given him time to travel the country and galvanize the opposition to the Fox government.

The massive demonstration, which some observers say was the largest in living memory, followed a 7-kilometre route. There were a lot of trade union delegations and some of the country’s largest unions have already declared they will make the defence of Obrador one of the main issues at the May Day march. Just to give an idea of the massive character of the demonstration, the enormous Zocalo square was already packed early in the morning and when Lopez Obrador was delivering his speech at 2 pm, most of the 7-kilometres of the march’s route was still full of demonstrators.

The offensive

The Mexican ruling class trembled at the sight of 500,000 people in the Zocalo square demonstrating against the case against Lopez Obrador on April 7. This accentuated the divisions in the ruling class. There was confusion over Lopez Obrador’s legal status and there was hesitation on the part of the Attorney General to file charges against him. There were reports that Fox would pardon Lopez Obrador, which was clearly an attempt on the part of the government to avert a crisis and cut across the developing mass movement. The government then retracted this report showing signs of panicky confusion.

...more...

http://www.marxist.com/Latinam/mexico_obrador_march280405.htm

(oops! forgot link!)

Might this have done it?

[Judi Lynn]

12. Those photos leave one breathless!

Of course I'd imagine certain people in this administration don't see them as anything which couldn't be adjusted to right-wing comfort by a well placed bomb or two.

God bless the world's real people.

[LeighAnn]

8. I think the whole of Latin America is

on the brink of revolution, that is. What with Hugo Chavez and the New Bolivarian Revolution and all.

Bravo, Mexico! Why can't we see that kind of outrage here?

[ozone_man]

2. This is great news.

I heard in on the way home on NPR.

[AP]

5. NPR's spin on Obrador developments in Mexico: "that bastard's smug!"

NPR is never kind to the anti-neoliberals, so I was curious about how NPR would present this story.

To me, it's so obvious that trying to put a progressive in jail for building an access road to a hospital ahead of that guy possibly running for president as an anti-neoliberal is hard to spin as a good thing for Democracy or a wise political move, so NPR was going to have step lightly.

It's always interesting to see how NPR translates spanish. The Obrador translation was dripping with smugness. The translator had way more inflection than Obrador displayed. And the translator for the government spokesperson: calm & level-headed.

The reporter's spin: the stock market was falling because of the uncertainty and Fox acted responsibly to avoid disaster. (What a guy!) The last line was that it seems that Obrador will run for president, but the charges remain and as all experts on Mexican politics know, "nothing is certain." Huh?

Well, anyway, that was the first long piece I've heard on NPR about the Mexican presidential elections which will almost certainly represent a debate over the issue of which NPR is most consistently on the wrong side: neoliberalism.

Their spin is that Obrador is a smug loose cannon who got lucky today but might still be prosecuted so his smugness could bite him in the ass. Meanwhile, Fox has the best interest of the country in mind and made a level-headed decision to let the smug bastard off the hook today so that our god -- the stock markets -- don't get angry (oh, and isn't that Obrador a bastard for being so destabilizing that he made the stock market god angry?).

[burrowowl]

7. I must say Fox and his

ilk might be just a tad worried.
NPR U$ National Proganda Radio?

[JDPriestly]

3. Fox must have a Plan "B"

to marginalize Obrador. Wonder what it is?

[AP]

6. If President Fox and NPR are on the same page, I think I know what...

...plan b is going to be. See my previous post.

[flordehinojos]

9. manuel lopez obrador is still a football in fox's football court.

and just like shrubbie is using 9/11 for political gain ... so is fox using HIS MAGNANIMUS DECISION to SHELVE criminal charges against LOPEZ OBRADOR ... therefore look not at LOPEZ OBRADOR but look at FOX'S MAGNANIMITY in F O R G I V I N G L O P E Z O B R A D OR.

that is what vicente fox is doing.

[Robbien]

15. Its a good thing Fox cannot run again

and he gets to save face while giving up something valuable in return.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Great news! Here's the Chicago Tribune's article,through the K.C.Star....

Posted on Thu, Apr. 28, 2005


Lopez Obrador now may be unstoppable, analysts say

BY HUGH DELLIOS
Chicago Tribune

MEXICO CITY - (KRT) - President Vicente Fox on Thursday defended his decision to back away from divisive criminal charges against Mexico City's mayor, reassuring Mexicans and foreign investors that the 2006 presidential campaign will not be marred by protests and instability.

By doing so, however, he may have done the opposite of what critics accused him of wanting to do: He may have assured that left-wing Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will enter the campaign's final stretch as an uncatchable favorite.
(snip)

Meyer said he believed Fox had been advised by his business and political confidantes that Lopez Obrador, if elected president, could damage Mexico's economy and therefore should be taken out of the race. He said Fox was out of touch with ordinary Mexicans and ''acted in bad faith.''

Lopez Obrador, meeting with reporters Thursday morning, said he viewed Fox's decision favorably because it would help create ''a relaxed environment that permits . . . the strengthening of institutions and Mexican democracy.''
(snip/..)

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/11516321.htm
(Free registration is required)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Article Last Updated: 04/29/2005 12:42:34 AM

Thanks to Fox, Mexico City mayor cleared for presidential run
Open path: The president says he took steps needed to ensure the legitimacy of Mexico's political system
By Kevin Sullivan
The Washington Post

MEXICO CITY - President Vicente Fox declared Thursday that the ''storm clouds'' had cleared in a national political crisis after he took steps Wednesday to allow Mexico City's mayor, a popular presidential candidate, to remain in the 2006 race despite being charged with a minor federal crime.

Late Wednesday, Fox announced he had accepted the resignation of the federal attorney general who was vigorously pursuing a legal case against the mayor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, amid mounting public consternation and unrest.
(snip)

Meyer said he believed Fox had been advised by his business and political confidantes that Lopez Obrador, if elected president, could damage Mexico's economy and therefore should be taken out of the race. He said Fox was out of touch with ordinary Mexicans and ''acted in bad faith.''

Lopez Obrador, meeting with reporters Thursday morning, said he viewed Fox's decision favorably because it would help create ''a relaxed environment that permits . . . the strengthening of institutions and Mexican democracy.''
(snip/...)

http://www.sltrib.com/nationworld/ci_2695079

[bklyncowgirl]

11. Way to go Mexico!

Those massive demonstrations may have had some effect.

[Moderator]

13. kick to combine

[Robbien]

14. Mayor of Mexico City told he can run for president

In an attempt to defuse a growing political crisis, the Mexican President, Vicente Fox, has said that the leading candidate for next year's election - the left-wing Mayor of Mexico City - should not be prevented from campaigning.

Mr Fox said that Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador should be allowed to carry on working while an investigation into his alleged refusal to obey a judge's order was investigated. Under Mexican law anyone facing charges cannot run for office.

Mr Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, said that while prosecutors would not drop abuse of power charges against Mr Lopez Obrador, the government would not try to stand in his way as the case progresses.

"The solution that has to be found in a judicial way - and it will be a challenge for the new Attorney General - is to allow other eyes to analyse the files and find routes so no case keeps Mr Lopez Obrador ," he said.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=634357

[mutus_frutex]

16. How will the US react when they have a left wing gvmnt in Mexico?

One wonder..

Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico would be a bit too much for them.. :-)

[NNN0LHI]

17. Bush must have told Fox about Diebold voting machines n/t