Posted on 09/01/2006 12:09:23 PM PDT by Dane
MEXICO CITY, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Mexican riot police sealed off Congress on Friday to protect President Vicente Fox from protests during his final state of the nation speech from leftists claiming fraud in last month's election.
Police deployed 6,000 officers equipped with water cannons and blocked nearby streets and metro stations with metal barricades to discourage protesters from massing.
Fox, who steps down in December, was to deliver his annual state of the nation speech on Friday evening. Aides said he would not back down to leftist who aimed to disrupt him
"He will give a speech to the nation. The constitution requires it and he will do it," a spokeswoman said, denying reports that Fox could arrive by helicopter, drop off a copy of his speech, and quickly leave.
Fox was hailed as a democratic hero in 2000 when he won election, ending 71 years of one-party rule, and again enjoys high popularity ratings as he nears the end of his term. However, political unrest over the contested July 2 election may cloud his legacy.
Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador alleges that Fox fraudulently helped fellow conservative Felipe Calderon win the election, and has vowed to make Mexico ungovernable.
Lawmakers from Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, refused to divulge their intentions but Mexican media said they might try to shout Fox down or physically stop him taking the podium.
Deputies from Fox's National Action Party, or PAN, whose 52 senators and 206 deputies form the largest single bloc in Congress, vowed to protect him.
Lopez Obrador was set to announce his strategy at a rally in Mexico City's vast Zocalo square three hours before Fox's speech. He could send supporters to protest outside Congress, raising fears of violence.
"The president won't be able to deliver his speech tomorrow. It will be a first in the history of this ceremony," Lopez Obrador advisor Manuel Camacho Solis said on Thursday.
Calderon, who won the vote by 244,000 votes out of 41 million, was expected to be named president-elect in coming days after the top electoral court threw out Lopez Obrador's fraud claims and refused the full recount he demanded.
Aside from their allegation of vote tampering during the count, leftists accuse Fox of illegally aiding Calderon's campaign and say business leaders broke campaign finance laws to support the ruling party.
Fox's approval rating hit 68 percent, its highest since 2001, in a poll in the Reforma newspaper on Friday. Another poll in El Universal showed him with a 67 percent rating. (Additional reporting by Alistair Bell
Richard Nixon lost to JFK in 1960 by 100,000 votes and everybody knew it was with the help of Chicago boss(mayor) Daley who dug up "votes" in Chicago's cemetary districts to put JFK over the top.
Richard Nixon had more class that al gore and his wannabe obrador combined.
Police deployed 6,000 officers equipped with water cannons...
I believe this is far more than gore's legacy. I really think that global forces antagonistic to republican ideals, disgusing themselves as people for real democracy--Soros and Soros-like creations--are behind this. Eventually, they plan to disrupt genuine elections in the name of "the people." Even now, Obrador is talking about setting up a shadow government. The reasoning for some of these radical folks is that Republicans and conservatives (classical liberals) cannot win elections because "real people" would never elect them. Therefore, by definition, any victories they win are shames, openning the door to anarchy by "the people." We're not there yet, but this a movement that is spreading. And no, I'm not a tin-foiler. I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I do keep up with my reading on DU.
This is the way Soros operates. Fox should take a page from Nixon who put these revolutionaries down firmly.
The would be disrupters must have taken their clue from Cindy Sheehan, who tried to disrupt Bush's State of the Union speech, by wearing a tee shirt with an anti-war message.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.