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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2006 
Fox Doesn't Expect Leftist Opposition
 Marjorie Olster - Associated Press
| | Mexican President Vicente Fox addresses the 61st United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 19, 2006. (Mike Segar/Reuters) |
Mexico's outgoing President Vicente Fox said Tuesday he does not expect the country's leftist opposition to militantly oppose his successor even though it has declared a parallel government.
Fox, in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, also said Mexico is willing to extradite all drug lords in its custody who are wanted by the United States — his most sweeping commitment yet to send kingpins to face U.S. justice.
The Mexican leader said he did not expect the opposition's rejection of President-elect Felipe Calderon, a member of Fox's conservative party, to destabilize Mexico or hurt its economy.
Supporters of election loser Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declared him president of their "parallel government" over the weekend. The declaration came at the end of seven weeks of intense protests with Lopez Obrador supporters camped out in the center of Mexico City, clogging the heart of the capital.
Calderon won by less than 234,000 votes, or 0.6 percent of total votes cast. Lopez Obrador's followers claimed election fraud and demanded a full vote recount.
At the beginning of this month, lawmakers from Lopez Obrador's party seized the floor of Congress and kept Fox from delivering his annual state-of-the-nation address. The president also decided to move last Friday night's annual independence celebration away from Mexico City's main square to avoid protesters. Instead, he delivered his traditional address in a city 170 miles away from the capital.
"I don't see the situation as tense," Fox said. "The opposition and the opposition candidate have always talked about resistance but peaceful resistance ... that's how things have been until now and that's how we expect them to continue."
Calderon has invited Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party to a dialogue to end the election standoff.
"What we expect is the integration of all the political forces, including the DRP, in a dialogue," Fox said. "Some people from this party have already said they are in favor of a dialogue."
Fox also blasted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for interfering in Mexico's internal affairs. Mexico threatened to sever diplomatic relations with Venezuela after Chavez accused the Mexican government of stealing the July 2 presidential election.
"That we consider an intervention in Mexican matters," Fox said.
Turning to his country's battle against drugs, Fox said Mexico currently has 16 "big leaders" of drug cartels in jail along with dozens of intermediaries such as financiers and money launderers and 75,000 lower level members of various cartels.
"We are fighting hard and attaining very important results," he said.
The U.S. is believed to have requested the extradition of at least three suspected drug kingpins: Benjamin Arellano Felix of the Arellano Felix smuggling syndicate; Osiel Cardenas, reputed head of the Gulf Cartel; and Hector "El Guero" Palma, a suspected leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
"We will extradite all of those who have pending matters with U.S. justice," Fox said.
Mexico extradited its first major drug lord — accused kingpin Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix — to the United States over the weekend. Before that, Mexico had often balked at sending drug kingpins, arguing they should face justice in Mexico and refusing to send anyone to the U.S. who would face the death penalty.
On the contentious issue of Mexican immigration to the United States, Fox said economic growth and strong job creation in his country were stemming the tide of immigrants flowing north of the border.
"We clearly understand in Mexico that it is our obligation to build up the jobs and promote the growth of the economy to make sure every Mexican citizen has opportunities to raise income for his family," Fox said. "And I can say is that this year, migration has decreased considerably to the United States, and it's not a coincidence that its a record year of creating new jobs in Mexico."
Mexico's economy is growing about 5 percent on an annual basis this year, Fox said, and close to one million new jobs have been created.
Fox said he had worked hard during his tenure for U.S. immigration reforms designed to create orderly, legal immigration that fully respects human rights.
A bill giving millions of illegal immigrants a chance at U.S. citizenship was approved by the Senate in May.
"We will both benefit from this initiative," Fox said.
But the proposed legislation still must be approved by the House, which passed a much tougher bill that would make all illegal immigrants subject to felony charges. |
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