Mexico’s presidential race marked by mudslinging
Campaign seen as test of democratic progress
The race for Mexico’s presidency has featured mudslinging, backstabbing, revelations of a questionably obtained Miami penthouse, videotapes of cash-filled suitcases, and allegations of Communist leanings. All this before the campaign has even officially begun – and with the election almost seven months away.
Political analysts predict the mud will continue to fly until the vote in July, with three major candidates in a virtual dead heat to succeed Vicente Fox in a contest that many view as a crucial test of Mexico’s democratic progress.
Fox’s watershed election in 2000 broke the 71-year rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. This time, a candidate from his National Action Party (PAN) is competing against rivals from both the PRI and the center-left Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). All three are trying to position themselves as the man to move Mexico’s economy ahead, even if they have to stoop to personal attacks in the process.
‘’Now we have a democracy, and people are interested in having a better standard of living,” said Sergio Sarmiento, a political columnist. ‘’The big question in 2006 is whether we will get the reforms to make the economy more competitive.”
More: boston.com
Mexico Parties to Curb Campaign Hostilities
Mexicos political parties agreed Tuesday to respect the results of the July 2 presidential election and curb mudslinging to ease tensions ahead of the vote.
Seven of the countrys eight political parties signed the agreement, which also asked President Vicente Fox, who has been accused of campaign interference, to refrain from commenting until after the Federal Electoral Institute has announced preliminary results.
This years presidential race is one of the closest ever with Felipe Calderon of Foxs ruling National Action Party running neck-and-neck with leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution.
More: forbes.com
Migration Moves Into Mexicos Presidential Race
As immigration reform progresses in Washington ahead of the 2006 mid-term elections, the issue of how Mexicans, legal and illegal, are treated in America is becoming an issue in Mexicos political arena as well.
While the issue isnt as divisive for Mexican politicians - all advocate better treatment of Mexican citizens in the U.S. - candidates in the upcoming presidential election are seeking to leverage the issue to their benefit.
Felipe Calderon, who is barely leading leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has staked out the immigration issue, speaking out against the Senates proposal to erect
Presidential Nomination Contender in Mexico Drops Out of Race
A contender for a nomination in next year's presidential election in Mexico has dropped out of the race, amid corruption allegations against him.
Former state governor Arturo Montiel said Thursday he would not seek the nomination from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.
The decision came amid news reports that officials were investigating more than $3 million in deposits into the bank account of one of his sons, and probing the family's property deals.
His rival, Roberto Madrazo, is now seen as the PRI's likely presidential nominee.
PRI had ruled Mexico for 71 consecutive years, until
Calderon leads Mexico presidential race
Mexicos ruling party candidate held onto his narrow lead in the disputed presidential election after a partial recount of votes, the top electoral court said Monday in a strong indication that conservative Felipe Calderon will be declared the winner.
But the judges held off on naming the president-elect and still have the option to annul the election.
Calderons leftist challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reacted to the courts announcement in outrage, calling on supporters never to accept Calderon as president and asking them to decide if he should form a parallel government or carry on a nationwide campaign
Campaigning in Mexico's presidential race already under way
More than a year before Mexico's presidential election, the three apparent front-runners already are campaigning hard, stumping the nation and filling airwaves with ads, promises and tirades - even though none of them has been officially nominated.
The early start to the election season - parties won't pick their candidates until fall and the Federal Electoral Commission won't register them until Jan. 1 - underscores how eager Mexico's largest political parties are to secure the presidency as the six-year rule of President Vicente Fox winds down.
Fox was a novelty in Mexican history -
Front-runner in Mexico's presidential race suddenly has competition
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a fiery leftist who captured the hearts of Mexico's poor and disenfranchised, has been the man to beat in the early race for Mexico's president.
But three out of four polls released in the past two weeks show his two main competitors _ Roberto Madrazo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and Felipe Calderon of President Vicente Fox's National Action Party _ catching up.
There are still more than seven months to go before the vote on July 2. But the recent polls _ two of which showed the three candidates
Mexico's Zapatista rebels head into jungle region marked by violence
Ski-masked rebel chief Marcos left San Cristobal de las Casas on Tuesday and led his campaigning band of Zapatistas toward the ancient Mayan temples of Palenque, a jungle region marked by violence between the rebels and paramilitary groups.
Leaving the motor bike on which he started his six-month tour, which will take him from the southernmost Mexican state of Chiapas to the U.S. border, Marcos headed out of the mountain town of San Cristobal de Las Casas in a 10-vehicle convoy at the crack of dawn.
Dubbed "The Other Campaign" because it
Chavez roils Mexico's presidential race
The presidents of Venezuela and Mexico trade barbs, and pull their ambassadors.
First, there was the name-calling: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez called his Mexican counterpart an American "puppy dog" after President Vicente Fox defended a US plan for a free-trade zone last week.
Mr. Chávez led several other Latin American leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Argentina in proclaiming the idea dead. Chávez taunted that Mr. Fox was "bleeding from his wound."
Then Mexico ordered the Venezuelan ambassador to pack his bags and prepare to be expelled unless Chávez apologized. Chávez refused. Instead, he warned:
US to work with Mexicos future president
The United States said on Monday that it will work with the winner in Mexicos presidential race and expressed confidence that a winner will be announced soon.
The Mexican government has announced that they will declare a winner, we think on Wednesday, and at that point, the president will congratulate the winner, White House spokesman Tony Snow said at a briefing.
We are going to work with the government of Mexico. Its an ally and neighbor, and obviously, weve got a great number of shared interests,
Mexicos Calderon marked by struggle for religious freedom
The roots of Felipe Calderons likely ascent to Mexicos presidency lie in one of the darkest periods of the countrys history, when the public expression of religion was banned, Roman Catholic churches and chapels were closed and priests were forbidden to wear clerical garb or voice opinions on public affairs.
Calderons father was among the many who took up arms in defense of the church, and it was that sense of persecution that led him in 1939 to join with other conservative Catholics to found the National Action Party, or PAN in its
