 |
|
|
 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2006 
Attack Brands Mexican Candidate ‘a Chávez’
 Adam Thomson - FT.com
| | Bored-looking farmers stand at a rally for Mexican presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the run up to July elections, Mexico City, Sunday, April 23, 2006. Apathy and contempt for politicians has infected many voters in the first presidential race since the nation restored multiparty democracy in 2000. As candidates have their first televised debate Tuesday, a numbing mixture of apathy and contempt for politicians has infected many voters, raising concerns about voter turnout. (AP/Marco Ugarte) |
A top aide of Felipe Calderón, Mexico’s centre-right presidential candidate, has launched a ferocious attack on Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the leftwing front-runner, as part of a campaign to associate him with economic chaos and a disdain for democratic institutions.
“It is not clear that he is convinced of the need to maintain economic stability of the country,” Ernesto Cordero, Mr Calderón’s chief economic adviser, told the FT. “There is a lot of evidence to suggest that Lopez Obrador is not a Lula but a Chávez,” he added, referring to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, and Hugo Chávez, the radical Venezuelan president.
With the first of two televised debates between the main candidates due on Tuesday – Mr López Obrador has said he will only take part in the second debate scheduled for June 6 – Mr Calderón’s campaign organisers have vowed to keep up their attacks.
Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) has ordered them to withdraw one of their television commercials, which attempts to associate Mr López Obrador and his Democratic Revolution party (PRD), with Mr Chávez.
Political analysts say the campaign has played an important role in reawakening Mr Calderón’s chances of winning the July 2 election. A poll published last week, for example, showed Mr Calderón, candidate for the ruling National Action party (PAN), within four points of Mr López Obrador compared with eight points just one month ago. Taking into account the margin of error the result now places the top two candidates in a technical tie.
Mr Cordero criticised Mr López Obrador’s brand of leftist politics, and stressed that it posed a grave danger to the country’s future prosperity. “He is not like the left in Chile or in Europe. His is an alternative that will set us back 30 years and we have already lived through that and we know it does not work,” he said.
In particular, he warned that the leftwing candidate had scant regard for the rule of law. “Andrés Manuel has no respect for democratic institutions. He has no respect for the Supreme Court, he has no respect for Congress, he discredits IFE, the electoral institute, and everything else that he does not agree with.”
Those views are widely shared by Mexico’s business class – even though foreign investors have generally remained more optimistic. Indeed, many foreigners say they believe Mr López Obrador would do little to upset economic discipline. They also argue that Mexico’s institutions would provide sufficient checks and balances to contain any president intent on straying from economic prudence.
Mr Cordero warned against such thinking. “Look at what Chávez has done in Venezuela. Before he won, there were probably people who said that Venezuela’s democratic institutions were very solid. So it is no guarantee.”
Mr Cordero questioned Mr Lopez Obrador’s campaign pledge to make savings of 100bn pesos ($9.1bn, €7.3bn, £5.1bn) within the first year of government – in part by cutting the wages and perks of high-ranking public-sector officials, including those of the president. “Cutting wages in half would give you 8bn pesos in savings, and he has not said how he is going to achieve the rest,” said Mr Cordero.
He also cast doubt on what many Mexicans consider Mr Lopez Obrador’s positive record as mayor of Mexico City. During that period, he has gained the reputation as a man who got things done. His universal pension for the elderly won him considerable popularity as did his infrastructure projects.
But Mr Cordero said that the money spent on road improvements could have been directed more productively at public transport solutions such as expanding the metro system. He also said that Mr López Obrador ramped up significantly the city’s debt – a claim that many dispute. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us