Former Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador contends he’s a leftist at heart but called for a “non-ideological” economic policy.
Polls show Lopez Obrador to be the leading candidate in the 2006 race for Mexico’s presidency. His comment comes days after he was harshly criticized by Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos. Lopez Obrador said he respects the rebel leader and won’t get into any arguments with him or respond to the criticisms.Still, Lopez Obrador says he’s been misinterpreted in earlier articles that suggested he had turned to the center. Lopez Obrador spoke on the day before the launch of what he said he will be a barnstorming campaign across northern Mexico – where his support is weak. That tour will take him to the border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali.
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Mexico Economic Growth Quickens to 3.1% in Second Quarter
Mexican economic growth quickened in the second quarter, led by a jump in investment as companies including Brunswick Corp. build plants to meet rising demand in the domestic market and in the U.S.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of a country's output in goods and services, expanded 3.1 percent from a year ago after growing 2.4 percent in the first quarter, the government said in an e-mailed report. The median of 12 economists in a Bloomberg survey showed the economy grew 4 percent.
Second-quarter GDP fell 0.42 percent from the first
Mexico leftist knocks Fox in conservative heartland
Left-wing Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lashed out at conservative rivals on their home turf on Saturday by saying President Vicente Fox betrayed the hopes of millions.
Lopez Obrador, leading opinion polls by up to 10 points, told a rally in the central town of Guanajuato that Fox failed to deliver the strong economic growth he promised. That has forced record numbers of Mexicans to emigrate illegally to the United States, he said.
"I am not going to betray the people. I am not going to let people down, I am not the same
The Conference Board(R) Mexico Business Cycle Indicators(SM)
Mexico Leading Economic Indicators and Related Composite Indexes for October 2005
The leading index was unchanged in October following four consecutive gains. Oil prices and stock prices were the main contributors to this month's weakness in the leading index, but in recent months the strengths among the leading indicators were relatively more widespread. Despite no change in October, the leading index continued to grow at about a 10.0 to 11.0 percent annual rate in recent months, well above the 3.0 to 4.0 percent rate
UPDATE 1-Mexico's central bank holds monetary policy steady
Mexico's central bank held monetary policy steady on Friday, pausing in its current loosening cycle as expected, despite record low inflation and a weak economy.
The central bank said in its twice-monthly policy review it was keeping its money market "short" steady at 79 million pesos a day. The short is one of the Banco de Mexico's main monetary policy tools.
A decrease in the short increases overnight lending to banks and tends to push interest rates lower, which encourages borrowing to stimulate economic growth.
At its last policy review on Aug. 26, Mexico's central
The Washington Posts trouble with numbers Mexico after NAFTA
On April 17, the Washington Post ran an article about Mexicos economy and the North American Free Trade Agreement, which took effect on January 1, 1994. Part of the focus was on market forces and the flight of some Mexicans to the U.S.
Still, the past 13 years havent been all bad economic news for Mexico, wrote Manuel Roig-Franzia of the Posts Foreign Service. Spurred by NAFTA, Mexicos gross domestic product has ballooned, multiplying nearly seven-fold, from $108 billion in 1993, the year before NAFTA implementation, to $748 billion in 2005.
If
Mexico's leftist candidate courts private sector
The leftist candidate in Mexico's July presidential election, widely popular among the country's poor, is stepping up efforts to dispel fears among a skeptical private sector, according to a campaign official.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, candidate for the Party of the Democratic Revolution, understands the importance of private investment and would manage the economy responsibly, Jesus Ortega, head of Lopez Obrador's campaign, told Reuters in an interview late on Friday.
"We're already going to businessmen specifically to reverse the lies, slanders and fear," Ortega said.
Lopez Obrador has promised to maintain fiscal discipline and ensure the central bank
"Indestructible" leftist challenges Mexico's big two
The leftist candidate leading Mexico's presidential race on Sunday brushed off growing criticism that he is a populist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying he was "politically indestructible."
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who leads opinion polls by up to 9 percentage points, responded to his rivals' criticism as his party took on the ruling establishment in a local election in the country's most populous state.
President Vicente's Fox's conservative party accused Lopez Obrador on Friday of illegally receiving aid from U.S. foe Chavez. The leftist's party strongly denies that.
Former Mexican President Carlos Salinas warned against populism,
The Conference Board(R) Mexico Business Cycle Indicators(SM)
Mexico Leading Economic Indicators and Related Composite Indexes for July 2005
The Conference Board announced today that the leading index for Mexico increased 0.7 percent, and the coincident index increased 0.1 percent in July.
* The leading index increased again in July following a large gain in
June. Oil prices as well as stock prices continue to be the main
contributors to the increase in July. Despite short-term volatility,
the growth
Mexico election race turns as conservative surges
Mexicos ruling party presidential candidate appears to be pulling away from his leftist rival after aggressive TV ads propelled his dramatic surge in an election race being fought on economic policies.
A closely watched poll in the Reforma newspaper on Wednesday showed Felipe Calderon, a conservative, with 40-percent support among probable voters and his left-wing challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador trailing at 33 percent.
Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor who promises to put the poor first, had been Mexicos most popular politician for three years and was the clear election front-runner until
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
