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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2007 
Vicente Fox Accused of Violating Law
 Associated Press
| | "I lost," Fox said. "But 18 months later I had victory. On election day, my party's candidate won." |
Mexico City – Mexico's largest leftist party announced Wednesday that it is filing a legal complaint against former President Vicente Fox, accusing him of violating the law by intervening against its presidential candidate who lost last year.
The Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, accuses the Fox administration of having supported current President Felipe Calderon with public comments, government television ads, and other means. Mexican law prohibits the president and other officials from using their office to support or oppose candidates.
The PRD claims that comments made by Fox last week at the Kennedy Center in Washington amount to a confession that he helped Calderon win the 2006 race.
In Washington, Fox made an apparent reference to a 2005 decision by prosecutors to drop charges of abuse of authority against Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, then mayor of Mexico City. The charge, over a land dispute, would have prevented Lopez Obrador from running for president.
"I lost," Fox said. "But 18 months later I had victory. On election day, my party's candidate won."
Fox, who left office Dec. 1, had long said the case against Lopez Obrador was a legal matter, not a political or personal one. He has also denied giving Calderon any unfair support in the July 2 elections, which Calderon won by a razor-thin margin. Lopez Obrador claims the polls were marred by fraud.
Javier Gonzalez, head of the PRD in the lower house of Congress, said that the complaint will be delivered Thursday to federal prosecutors who will decide whether to investigate the accusations, file criminal charges against Fox, or drop the case.
The PRD still refuses to recognize Calderon's authority. Lopez Obrador has declared himself Mexico's legitimate president. |
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