"... Roberto Madrazo, has warned that "… They [Chavez and Obrador] have very similar attitudes. I see authoritarianism in them both." Madrazo further said that Obrador, like Chavez, does not respect the rule of law..."
Roberto Madrazo has gotten the point at much more fundamental level. It does not matter what kind of slogans, marxist or not, they mouth and the degree of red on the banner they wave. He got to the root.
"... Roberto Madrazo, has warned that "… They [Chavez and Obrador] have very similar attitudes. I see authoritarianism in them both." Madrazo further said that Obrador, like Chavez, does not respect the rule of law..."Roberto Madrazo is hardly one to talk about democracy. Lopez Obrador became a national figure taking on Madrazo when Madrazo's party stole a state election, and Lopez Obrador (then a oil workers' union leader) led the opposition -- it was the sight of AMLO, in a bloody shirt after being beaten by state cops that made him known nationally.
I lived in (and still live on and off) Mexico City during Lopez Obrador's tenure as head of government ("mayor" is misleading, with the Federal District having a much larger population -- and economic importance -- than most Mexican states). He's from the "left" and his party includes some ex-Communists (and his presidential coalition ticket includes a tiny party that used to call itself "Trotskyite") but he's no communist. What made him effective -- and extremely popular with the local voters -- was successful "garbage pickup and street lighting" type iniatives, most of which were public-private sector partnerships. He's got significant support from big business types (like Carlos Slim) and,more importantly, the mom-n-pop business owners.
Ironically, if he is president, you won't like his rhetoric, but I don't think you'll oppose a lot of his suggestions for slowing down emigration to the U.S. More investments in the rural areas (where most of the U.S. illegals come from), public works projects to keep workers at home, etc. As far as I can tell, Calderón is just offering more of what the Fox administration did, which hasn't worked at keeping people home.
At any rate, I agree with Benito Juarez, who said the world would be better off if we all minded our own business.