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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2006 
Obrador Says 'Will Get On Well' with US
 Reuters
| | Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate from Mexicos left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), speaks to supporters in Cuernavaca City, Mexico. Lopez Obrador on last week attacked Washington's plans to build a high-security border fence that aims to crack down on illegal immigration. (Reuters/Henry Romero) |
Mexico City – The leftist leading the race to become Mexico's next president said this week he would get on well with the United States if elected in July, despite cross-border friction over immigration and drugs.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, speaking on his morning television show, also made overtures to Mexico's business community, which is suspicious of his plans to spend heavily on social programs and have more government say in the running of the economy.
Mexico and the United States have been at odds in recent weeks over drug smuggling and related violence in Mexico and over a U.S. plan to build a security fence on the border to stop illegal immigrants.
But Lopez Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City who rejects comparisons to anti-U.S. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said he would have good relations with Washington.
“We are going to get on well. Of course, it is going to be a respectful relationship, one that I hope will be of mutual respect,” he said.
Lopez Obrador, helped by a swing to the left in Latin America in recent years, heads opinion polls for the July 2 election, although his lead has been cut in recent weeks.
His main rivals, the ruling National Action Party's Felipe Calderon and Roberto Madrazo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, accuse him of populism.
Lopez Obrador said a move in the U.S. Congress to build a fence with lights and security cameras on parts of the border was absurd. The plan has been heavily criticized in Mexico.
He also vowed to back Mexico's business community, even though he has promised to give priority to the country's poor if he replaces conservative President Vicente Fox.
“I am making a commitment to support the business sector and I am also clarifying that we are not the enemies of business,” he said.
Lopez Obrador, from the Party of the Democratic Revolution, said he would mix private and public investment to jump start the slow-growing economy. |
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