Posted on 08/31/2006 11:29:35 AM PDT by StJacques
PRD vows to block Informe "There will be no address," Acosta said, speaking to a small group of reporters from his tent in the capital´s central Zócalo, where PRD members and supporters have been camped out for a month. "(Fox) is going to have to leave through the back door." "For the first time in the 200 years that there have been presidential addresses, there will be no speech," he said. "He doesn´t deserve one." He said the party will not attempt to physically attack Fox, and any actions will be peaceful. The tradition of the presidential address, closely tied to the pomp and officiousness of the decades in which Mexico was ruled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is among the most important dates on the nation´s political calendar. The president generally lists his government´s accomplishments and lays out work to be done. Friday will be Fox´s last Informe, as he leaves office on Dec. 1. Last year, he gave the speech on top of catcalls and protests from opposition lawmakers. This year, the PRD aims to derail the event in protest of what they say was a fraudulent presidential election. The party says Fox illegally helped to swing the close contest in favor of Felipe Calderón, of his conservative National Action Party (PAN). Calderón´s uncertified lead over left-leaning Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the PRD stands at 240,000 votes out of 41 million cast. The PRD is also angry over a move by the PAN to place one of its own deputies at the head of the presiding board in the lower house of Congress - effectively preventing the PRD from officially responding to Fox´s Informe. The head of the board in the Chamber delivers a response to the annual Sept. 1 address. On Tuesday, the PAN, with the help of the PRI and the Green Party, pushed their own lawmaker, Jorge Zermeño Infante, into the position. By tradition, a member of the second force in the Chamber, which presently is the PRD, would respond to the Informe. Acosta confirmed that actions were being planned both inside and outside Congress, where the address is given. "It´s the job of our deputies to manifest their disagreement and indignation inside the legislative building," Acosta said. Earlier Wednesday, Fox´s spokesman Aguilar said the president is still planning to make the speech in person. "We trust in the civility of the lawmakers," he said. The Informe is only one potential flash point in the PRD-PAN confrontation that has shaken the nation since the July 2 election. Another is Sept. 16, Independence Day, when the PRD plans to hold a "constitutional convention" in the Zócalo - despite the traditional military parade that arrives at the square in the morning and the president´s annual "grito" from the National Palace the evening before. PRD officials on Wednesday said they don´t seek a confrontation with the military, but they would not reschedule or relocate the convention. Military officials have also said in recent weeks they will not change their route, which traditionally runs down Reforma Avenue, currently blocked by PRD protest encampments. With the Federal Electoral Tribunal likely to declare Calderón as president-elect in the coming days, the PRD has said it will decide the future of its protest movement on Sept. 16. The convention delegates could decide to form a sort of parallel government and elect a "legitimate" president, or continue with their civil resistance movement.
BY JONATHAN ROEDER/THE HERALD MEXICO
El Universal
August 31, 2006
Though presidential spokesman Rubén Aguilar on Wednesday said he trusted that President Vicente Fox´s annual State of the Nation Address (Informe) will be received with respect by congressmen, a top official from the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) countered that "at least 10" ways of preventing the speech from being delivered were under consideration. Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo, the PRD´s secretary-general, said he and three other party leaders will decide "exactly two hours" before the event on Friday what action will be taken.
After reading this morning's page 1 WSJ story about this, I hope the Mexican authorities don't play into the radicals' hands and bust heads, because they certainly could do it.
Wait till the revolution starts and we see a a really masssive influx of illegal - oooops - I mean undocumented workers.
If anyone actually thinks the left is more "tolerant" than the right, they need to think about this story.
They should just laugh at them. Leftists have no sense of humor about themselves.
START YOUR ENGINES..... I wish the MSM really pounced on the REAL name of the loser is Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador. WHY does everyone insist it is Andres? Can someone PLEASE tell me? But, then the New York Times has called upon Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador to step aside. We will see if they have real clout. Fox will give the address on TV, and no one will even notice where he gives it.
I've noticed that in the last few days this has been getting wider coverage. Thanks to you, those who have followed your posts are already up to speed!
I wonder who is financing all this?
Are you saying Fox will NOT go to the legislative grounds at San Lázaro to give the address?
Holy cow. His initials spell out "MALO" (= "bad" in romance languages and Latin). Spooky.
If they let MALO and his Leftist goons win this battle, the Lefties may hunger for far more after believing in themselves again. Give 'em an inch an they wanna take a mile...
Fox is gruff, and not a very accomplished political diplomat as his frequent clashes with Congress demonstrated. I admire how he brought down the national debt but anyhow, his gruffness may work to his advantage this time. If anybody can fight through this it's probably Fox. Others might be pansies in comparison to that rancher. The question is, does Fox have the will to fight through tomorrow. And will somebody try to shoot him?
This is incredible. It is so similar to the way the Bolivian left managed to bring down the legitimately elected president of Bolivia. Particularly similar is the fact that the security forces are divided, with the local police seeming to be on the side of the PRD.
How do you think Mexico is going to handle this? I don't see any way it can be handled without violence, since the left is obviously planning to riot in the "anti-globalización" type of riot they like so much. I am certain there are a lot of non-Mexicans there, as well, and not just other Latin Americans, but the entire wandering left that always seems to be able to afford air tickets to stir up trouble in any part of the world.
My guess is the next close presidential election here in which a Pubbie wins is going to lead to this very same thing.
nice to see that our closest neighbor is has such a stable govt. also good that we have such a solid border.
/sarc
If you'll forgive a shameless self-plug, that was precisely my point with this post.
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