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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2007 
Mexico City Cathedral Closed Over Leftist Protest
 Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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| | Supporters of Mexico's former presidential candidate Manuel Lopez Obrador, protest inside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007, during an event commemorating Obrador's first year anniversary as Mexico's self-proclaimed 'legitimate' president. (AP/Marco Ugarte) |
Mexico City - Mexico City cathedral was closed Monday after around 100 leftist demonstrators entered the church during a political protest.
Catholic Lawyers Association president Armando Martinez said late Sunday that the cathedral would close after the last evening mass and would only re-open once the authorities could guarantee its security. He said a formal complaint would be filed before the justice system over damage caused to the building.
The incident started when the cathedral rang its bells for 10 minutes calling for its midday mass Sunday, during a rally led by centre-left former presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the adjoining Zocalo square.
Angry supporters of Lopez Obrador entered the cathedral in protest.
'These are acts of terror which we must not allow, mainly because they put at risk the safety of parishioners, of the cardinal, of the bishops and of anyone else attending the liturgy,' Martinez said.
Leftist protestors had already entered the cathedral in the past, shouting political slogans and criticizing Mexican Cardinal Norberto Rivera.
The rector of the cathedral, Ruben Avila, said Sunday's bursting in was 'inadmissible, reprehensible' and asked the authorities to intervene against such actions. Avila denied that ringing the bells was a provocation, as leftist protestors claimed.
'We cannot allow this place to be violated and desecrated, and that people's physical integrity is jeopardized,' said the priest.
Lopez Obrador lost Mexico's presidential election in 2006 to current President Felipe Calderon by a very close margin. The left- wing politician continues to contest the election results, claiming there was fraud.
Mexico Opposition Defends Oil Reserves
Prensa Latina
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Mexico City - Mexican former presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for the CND (National Democratic Convention) to begin a peaceful campaign of resistance in defense of Mexican oil.
He made the call for acts of passive resistance if President Felipe Calderon insists on privatizing the national oil industry, selling to foreign investors.
Obrador said his party was submitting a $40 billion investment plan to Congress today, Monday, to rescue the sector and turn the country into an energy power.
Investments would cover field exploration, developing natural gas fields, oil drilling, building refineries, modernizing petrochemical plants and pipeline maintenance to make Mexico an energy power.
The money would come, he suggested, by cutting current expenses, reducing salaries of top bureaucrats and withdrawing pensions from ex presidents. |
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