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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2006 
Obrador Aims to Beat Fox on House-Building
 Reuters
| | Mexican presidential candidate Andres Lopez Obrador of the left wing PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution) was campaigning on Saturday in President Vicente Fox's home state of Guanajuato, a part of Mexico where traditionally the PRD has little support. (Reuters/Mario Castillo |
Monterrey, Mexico - The leftist front-runner for Mexico's presidential elections said on Friday he planned to build more houses per year than President Vicente Fox, directly challenging a cornerstone of government policy.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, said that if elected his goal would be to build 1 million homes per year, above Fox's 750,000 target for 2006.
"One of the first tasks is to drive home-building, to generate lots of jobs in the country," the former mayor of Mexico City told an analysts' conference on house construction in New York via a video link.
Building homes for Mexico's poor has been one of the policy foundations of the Fox government. Government-backed mortgage schemes have led to a rapid increase in demand for houses, and stocks in home building companies are among the top performers on the Mexican bourse.
Home builders like Geo, Ara, Homex and Urbi have seen double-digit growth in revenues during Fox's administration.
Felipe Calderon, candidate for Fox's National Action party, told the conference that he would continue with the government's home-building policy if elected, with around 1,000 houses built per day in the last years.
"My first goal is to continue with the successful housing policy," Calderon also said via a video link.
Opposition candidate Roberto Madrazo, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, also said he would drive home-building. He said he aimed to construct 5 million new houses and upgrade another 3 million if elected.
Lopez Obrador has led in polls for the July 2 vote, although some recent surveys have shown Calderon closing the gap, with Madrazo in third place. A close race is expected. |
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