Posted on 04/09/2005 8:48:00 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
MEXICO CITY — This city's beleaguered mayor voluntarily resigned his position Friday morning, a day after the National Congress stripped his legal immunity and placed the country's leading presidential candidate's campaign in jeopardy.
"I will not return to city government," Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters outside his home, adding he would remain there until a warrant is issued for his arrest on contempt-of-court charges in an old land-use dispute. He reiterated he would then peacefully surrender to authorities.
But, despite earlier claims that it would move swiftly, the federal Mexican attorney general's office said Friday afternoon it hadn't drawn up the necessary legal paperwork needed for a judge to issue an arrest warrant. It indicated the process could take several days.
Lopez Obrador, this city's popular leftist mayor, said he would continue his campaign for president behind bars if he had to and urged supporters to continue peaceful protests against efforts that would keep him off next year's ballot.
A massive show of support Thursday at the city's huge main square, the Zocalo, failed to deter the National Congress from stripping the mayor's immunity so he can face the contempt-of-court charges.
The charges threaten to end his campaign for president because Mexico's Constitution prevents anyone charged with a crime from seeking office.
Lopez Obrador, was favored to succeed President Vicente Fox in next year's elections, argued his impeachment was politically motivated.
He accused the country's two leading political parties — Fox's National Action Party, or PAN, and the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI — of conspiring to eliminate him from the elections.
Members of the mayor's administration on Friday denounced the National Congress's actions as a "backward movement to the country's incipient democracy," and an offense to the rights of the city's residents who voted for Lopez Obrador.
They also increased the number of people estimated to have attended Thursday's rally, saying about 350,000 supporters gathered at the Zocalo. On Thursday, they put the count at about 150,000.
Mexico President Vicente Fox, who was in Rome attending Pope John Paul II's funeral, told reporters he didn't see the rally, but called Thursday's impeachment "an important day."
"This makes it clear that in Mexico, there is strong institutionalism; that in Mexico there is democracy; that there is ambient liberty for opinions, per say, for expressions," Fox said. "And, finally, that in Mexico there is respect for the law. That is a theme of my government that we are going to maintain until the end."
Lopez Obrador, a member of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, is accused of ignoring a court order in 2001 to stop the construction of an access road to a hospital. Construction since has stopped and the road has yet to be finished.
He said he plans on staying at home to avoid any confusion with the law and directed questions about city operations to the acting mayor, Alejandro Encinas.
He said he will continue his usual practice of holding morning news conferences at a park near his home to answer questions about his presidential campaign.
Mexican analysts fear political chaos will follow if Lopez Obrador is barred from running for office. Major rallies are planned across the country to support his candidacy.
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jzarazua@express-news.net
' Mexico President Vicente Fox, who was in Rome attending Pope John Paul II's funeral, told reporters he didn't see the rally, but called Thursday's impeachment "an important day." '
Looking at the big picture for a minute, at a guess I would Fox is trying to out this guy while everyone's attention is diverted to the border and the Pope. I imagine the Pope was greatly loved in Catholic Mexico. FReegards....
Ping!
Please let me know if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
What's your take? Could this spark a Mexican uprising?
bump / ping!!
Lopez Obrador, (is) a member of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD....IIRC, Vicente is a member of the Nat'l Action Party, or PAN.
I'm waiting for armies of libs to protest the theft of the Mexican elections.
chirp chirp chirp
It all seems to fit.
1. Bush and Fox call the Minutemen vigilantes. People look that way.
2. Bush brings Clinton and snubs Carter at Pope's funeral. People rubbernecking all over the place. [Savage pointed that out. He thinks it was a smoke screen.]
3. Fox goes with Bush to Pope's funeral, and while he's gone, his top running-mate thrown into a legal chipper while everyone is distracted.
For all of this, it is still possible that the communists could topple Fox. At that point, it gets more ugly. So I'm wondering, is that best long-term? If the Mexican people want to try out communism, should we scheme to stop them? Or let them try it? If they try it, many will die. If they never try it, then we're to blame for everything while being their sugar daddy propping them up.
On the other hand, does Bush have a carefully laid out plan on this? Will Mexico get over all it's commie-talk without experiencing it?
If they try it, even more of them will end up here in California.
We would never wish Communism on anyone even if we think they deserve it.
"If they try it, even more of them will end up here in California. We would never wish Communism on anyone even if we think they deserve it."
I'm not wishing it on them, believe me. And I know what you're saying. I imagine that's exactly what Bush has been saying all these years. But scheming to keep people from what they want can confuse everyone involved. Up starts looking like down. Down starts looking like up.
I don't claim to have the answer at this moment. Rethinking eveything for a bit. FReegards....
the whole country of mechico should be arrested for incompetence.
while other countries are moving forward, building infrastructure, pushing the young into colleges of business and technical studies, legislating equality, mexico is moving backward.
Yeah I'm not accusing you of wishing it on them. I think we're both in the same boat on how we feel about this.
Maybe it's a blessing in disguise, if the status quo gets destabilized, we (America and Mexico) can finally fix it.
If the prodigal son wants to leave his home, the father might try to keep him home by hook or crook. But if it leads to dangers in the house, the father says, "May God assist you in your journey, son." My father did that with me in various ways. Not that I was a danger, mind you. I've had to scrape bye despite health problems, lack of harmony with professors, forceful idealism in the work place, etc. From an economic standpoint, I'm a humiliating failure.
But that doesn't mean he doesn't care about me. He had to let me do what I wanted to do. I'm kind of like Mexico, in a way: a 40 year old, poverty-stricken fool. Even got fired this week. And yet, by choosing my own path, in many ways I'm much stronger than if he had manipulated me to do things his way all these years.
But when you look at the big picture, it's much more tempting to be a short-term humanitarian schemer. I think I see Bush's viewpoint more clearly today, along with GOP members scheming for amnesty in congress. They are most likely filled with great intentions and feel like unsung martyrs right now. Just look at South Africa, how they turned to socialism by choice, and what a mess they are now.
I respect them more, but should I agree with them?
FReegards....
I hope we would do everything we could to prevent having a communist dictatorship on our southern border.
"I hope we would do everything we could to prevent having a communist dictatorship on our southern border."
Even if we risk WMD attacks on our cites?
9-11 amply demonstrated that US cities already are at risk from WMDs. WMDs are more than nukes or flying bombs. Smallpox, anthrax, ebola, rare strains of influenza will kill you graveyard dead and can be carried into the U S without detection. Would you tolerate such a threat on the border?
Political chaos is the status quo. You know, a mayor ignoring direct Supreme Court orders is not exactly a sign of political balance.
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