 |
|
|
 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2006 
Spat Continues Between Fox, López Obrador
 Wire services/El Universal
| | President Vicente Fox has been traveling the country defending his six-year tenure and attacking the leftist front-runner, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. |
A visitor to Mexico these days might be forgiven for thinking that President Vicente Fox is running for re-election, even though the Constitution bans him from a second term and sitting presidents traditionally have stayed on the sidelines during national campaigns.
Not Fox. He has been traveling the country, defending his six-year tenure and attacking the leftist front-runner, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. At times, Fox´s verbal sparring with López Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City, has eclipsed the campaigns of the two other candidates in the race.
The bitter political fight has made it seem as if the election were really a vote between a continuation of Fox´s free-trade policies and López Obrador´s proposals for more protectionism, free health care and other government benefits for the poor.
Fox is breaking a tradition. In the past, sitting presidents could easily remain above the fray because, until Fox, of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), won in 2000, the long-governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) determined the outcome of elections in advance.
"He´s clearly worried that Andrés Manuel López Obrador will be president and the country´s economic model will change," said Denise Dresser, a political scientist and columnist in Mexico City. For months, Fox and his team bombarded Mexico with public service announcements touting the accomplishments of his administration. They were clearly intended to counter the charge from López Obrador, who resigned as mayor to run for president, that Fox promised "a government of change" but delivered little.
Then the Supreme Court, on Feb. 24, ordered the administration to take the ads off the air, while it considered a lawsuit brought by opposition lawmakers who said Fox was using public resources to help his party´s candidate, Felipe Calderón, who is trailing in the polls.
Since then, Fox has stepped up his comments, throwing barbs at López Obrador at every opportunity, warning against demagoguery, populism and false messiahs, which are seen as code words for López Obrador.
Fox has also warned voters against being tempted by promises of government handouts and cheaper energy costs which, he contends, will bankrupt future generations. "They give us a sandwich today so that we can go hungry tomorrow," he quipped.
The last week in March, touring the northern border country, Fox continued his verbal assault, saying, "We can continue advancing if we persevere in our effort, if we put aside easy promises and false illusions, the demagoguery and the populism."
López Obrador has responded by calling the president a chachalaca, a rare bird known for chattering incessantly. He has also repeatedly told the president to "shut up" and quit meddling in the campaign. "He can´t go around bad-mouthing me," López Obrador asserted on March 17. "He can´t walk about throwing indirect attacks."
At an event two days earlier, López Obrador said, "He already had his opportunity and the only thing he did was to betray millions of Mexicans that trusted him."
Speaking at a rally in Rosario, in the Pacific state of Nayarit in late March, López Obrador chastised the president for continuing his attacks, saying he was demeaning his office and acting "like a party boss."
The attacks have not come from only Fox´s office, but from his party as well. Party leaders and legislators have orchestrated a campaign to link López Obrador to President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, the epitome of a left-wing populist who is seen as having run roughshod over democratic institutions.
The party has a new attack ad in which Chávez appears, warning Vicente Fox "not to mess with me or you will come out pricked with thorns." The ad then shows López Obrador yelling "Shut up, Mr. President, shut up, chachalaca."
López Obrador has declined to comment on the ads. Chávez condemned them.
Political scientists here say the ad campaign and Fox´s comments appear to be aimed at scaring Mexico´s middle and upper classes, painting López Obrador as a potential leftist dictator, or at the very least a close-minded protectionist.
They also note that Mexicans are seeing a new style of politicking, after seven decades of one-party rule in which the president was treated with the utmost respect.
"Mexican presidents have always been - well, they used to be - sacred," said Enrique Krauze, a well known political scientist and author. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us