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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2007 
In Mexico, a Showdown is Defused
 Oscar Avila - Chicago Tribune
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 |  | In the end, we won't remember what happened Sept. 1, but we will remember what happens after.
- Ricardo Pascoe |  | |
Opposition lawmakers forced President Felipe Calderon to deliver his state of the union speech Sunday, a day late. They made him speak at the National Palace instead of in Congress and kept him off live television.
But in Mexico's tense political climate, the unusual change in protocol might have helped Calderon avert a potentially violent confrontation that would have complicated efforts to push through his agenda.
The speech capped a tense weekend in which Calderon and lawmakers struck a last-minute deal: Calderon would offer his state of the union report, known as the informe, in writing Saturday night and save the speech for Sunday.
Many lawmakers with the liberal Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, still refuse to recognize the conservative Calderon's 2006 election victory, which they say came through fraud. They saved face by shunning Calderon without coming off as unreasonable obstructionists, analysts said.
Calderon addressed the divide Sunday before an invitation-only audience. 'Democracy cannot be understood without the debating of ideas. Democracy is respectful dialogue, frank and direct discussion of our differences,' he said.
While Mexico's constitution requires the president to give Congress a written report on the state of the country, it does not say anything about a speech.
Unlike the State of the Union address in the U.S., where even the most die-hard opponents politely applaud a president, the informe has typically degenerated into boos and catcalls.
Tumultuous election Calderon took office with a razor-thin margin, but members of the liberal PRD accused then-President Vicente Fox of illegally interfering in the campaign. The flap caused blockades and protests in Mexico City's main streets for months.
So when it came time for Fox to give his informe last year, PRD lawmakers blocked his access to the podium, forcing him to drop off the written copy unceremoniously.
Likewise, Calderon's supporters came to blows Dec. 1 with opposition lawmakers who were trying to prevent him from taking his presidential oath in Congress. He eventually was sworn in about midnight as his opponents heckled him.
This year's informe turned into a cliffhanger: Would lawmakers let Calderon take the podium or would he be forced to drop off the report in a side room, as opponents wanted? Would Calderon try to address lawmakers and would they shout him down?
Calderon, a former legislator, upped the ante when he challenged opposition lawmakers to debate him after his informe. They rejected his terms.
As the clock ticked Saturday before Calderon's arrival, the president of the lower chamber, Ruth Zavaleta of the PRD, said she would not interfere. But Zavaleta said she could not receive the report from a president elected in a process 'questioned by millions of Mexicans.'
With that, dozens of lawmakers walked out and did not return after a recess. That meant Calderon entered minutes later to a sympathetic crowd cheering 'Fe-li-pe! Fe-li-pe!'
Calderon walked to the lectern, shook some hands and dropped off his report. In a conciliatory note, he invited lawmakers to join him in a 'public and direct dialogue.'
Both sides trumpeted the compromise. Humberto Aguilar, a senator from Calderon's National Action Party, said he hoped it signaled the last time an informe generated uncertainty until the last minute.
Claims of victory Congressman Luis Sanchez, vice president of the governing board of the PRD, called it 'a victory because we are breaking with the tradition in which we have to listen to empty words.'
In his speech Sunday, Calderon repeated his message that the greatest threat to Mexico is the violence caused by warring drug rings. Calderon has dispatched military troops and federal police to regain control in several states hit hard by violence, saying 'the sacrifice of those patriots has not been and will not be in vain.'
Calderon also emphasized the need to reform the tax code with the government projecting a steep decline in revenues from PEMEX, the state-run oil firm.
Calderon criticized the U.S. for immigration raids that have swept up undocumented Mexican immigrants and trumpeted his administration's efforts to create jobs that would reduce the incentive to seek work outside of Mexico.
Ricardo Pascoe, a political analyst who has worked with the governing PAN and the opposition PRD, said Calderon's skillful managing of the state-of-the-union dispute might give him a better chance to accomplish the goals he outlined Sunday.
'In the end, we won't remember what happened Sept. 1, but we will remember what happens after,' Pascoe said.
oavila@tribune.com |
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