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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | June 2006 
Obrador Demands Govt Probe of Rival Scandal
 Reuters
| | Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate of Mexico's left-wing Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), greets supporters after a rally in Ocosingo in Mexico's state of Chiapas June 9, 2006. (Daniel Aguilar/Reuters) |
Mexican leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called on Saturday for the government to investigate his closest rival's brother-in-law, whom he accuses of dodging taxes on ill-gotten gains.
Lopez Obrador, tied in the polls with ruling conservative party candidate Felipe Calderon before the July 2 vote, has charged his rival with awarding his wife's brother contracts while he was energy minister.
The former indigenous rights activist has also accused Calderon's brother-in-law of not paying the proper taxes on earnings.
Calderon has repeatedly denied any misconduct, but the scandal is tarnishing his image in a campaign where he put strong emphasis on is "clean hands" in a country stained with corruption.
Lopez Obrador said Mexican Finance Minister Francisco Gil Diaz should be leading a probe of the tax-dodging allegations.
"He (Gil Diaz) should be worried about doing the investigation that beckons, because there should be no influence peddling and there should be no legalized tax dodging allowed in our country," Lopez Obrador said in a speech.
On Friday, Calderon's brother-in-law, Diego Zavala, filed a legal complaint against Lopez Obrador, of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, for defamation.
Calderon of the National Action Party, or PAN, has said his rival is telling lies.
The election campaign has been full of barbs and opponent-bashing.
But this week's charges are the most serious since the PAN government tried to knock Lopez Obrador out of the race in a legal dispute over a hospital access road he authorized as Mexico City mayor.
Lopez Obrador charges that Zavala's technical consulting company, Hildebrando, earned more than $200 million from contracts pushed his way during Calderon's time in the government and says he did not pay the correct taxes on those earnings.
The PAN came to power in 2000, ending 71 years of one-party rule widely seen as riddled with nepotism and graft.
Lopez Obrador himself was bruised in 2004 by videotapes showing party allies receiving cash from a businessman. |
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