Protests mark Mexico’s presidential
address
By Michael O’Boyle
Sept. 2 — Amid protests outside Congress and heckling from
lawmakers inside, President Vicente Fox faced a hostile crowd during
his fourth State of the Nation Address Sept. 1.
Tens of thousands of protesters surrounded a fortified Congress during
the president’s speech. The demonstration, led by unions incensed
over pension reform plans, were the largest ever to pass on the traditional
date of the president’s address, known as the Informe.
The Informe used to be the president’s day to shine, but in recent
years it has become a day of protest and political confrontation.
Public health workers at the Social Security Institute (IMSS), as well
as electricity, public university and telephone workers, marched on
Congress in the early afternoon demanding the government stop reforms
to make workers pay for a greater share of their pensions.
In preparation for the protests, police erected a metal wall around
the perimeter of the lower house and deployed thousands of city and
federal officers to guard the installations in what was considered the
most extensive security operations ever at Congress.
Francisco Hernández Juárez, the leader of Telmex’s
telephone workers union and head of the labor coalition organizing the
protests, said unions would mount a national strike if the government
did not listen to their complaints.
“We believe in making changes to better the nation, but we don’t
have a place to sit and negotiate,” Hernández said. “It
appears as if there is no administration.”
Workers staged walk-outs Sept. 1, shuttering nonemergency services at
public health clinics across the country, and closing down customer
services at Telmex and the capital’s electricity company.
It was the third major protest this week, following an earlier union
demonstration on Aug. 31 and a massive show of support Aug. 29 for the
capital’s mayor, whom federal prosecutors have asked Congress to
remove from office to face criminal charges.
In 2000, Fox became the first opposition candidate to win the presidency
after 71 years of one party rule by the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI).
PRI, known for fostering widespread corruption and resorting to authoritarian
extremes, has held together its political machine despite internal conflicts
that threatened to destroy it after Fox’s surprise victory.
Riding on a wave of optimism, Fox promised to usher in a new democratic
era for Mexico.
But the transition has been more difficult than Fox perceived.
Four years later, Fox faces constant criticism from opposition parties,
as well as unions and farm organizations that once swore loyalty to
the PRI.
The president, from the National Action Party (PAN), has been unable
to move forward any of his major economic or political reforms in the
nation’s divided Congress, where no party holds a majority.
Under the PRI regime, street protests during the Informe were unheard
of, said historian Lorenzo Meyer.
For decades, middle class families gathered around the radio and later
television to hear the president’s speech, which sometimes lasted
hours.
Then, the day was a solemn ceremony celebrating a president’s accomplishments
and honoring his near absolute power under the PRI regime.
But Fox, whom many analysts have written off as a lame duck president,
was greeted by the largest street protests yet during an Informe.
“I think we are seeing the beginning of a new tradition,”
Meyer said.
The atmosphere inside Congress was little friendlier to Fox.
During his speech, he was repeatedly heckled by members of the leftist
Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the PRI.
The opposition lawmakers shouted chants denigrating Fox and accusing
him of lying, distorting the economic situation of the country, and
“selling out” to private, international interests.
The PRD accuses Fox of trying to discredit their star politician, Mexico
City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador through the petition
by federal prosecutors to remove the mayor’s immunity from prosecution.
The mayor, who leads polls as an early favorite for the presidency,
is charged with contempt of court in relation to an obscure land use
case.
Analysts say the constant accusations and bickering between parties
will only turn more people away from trusting the political process.
Under the conditions of high voter absenteeism, as has been seen in
recent elections, the PRI stands the best chance to benefit, analysts
say.
In midterm elections the PRI gained seats in Congress, held onto stronghold
states and won back key governor’s palaces from Fox’s PAN.
Many analysts say Fox missed his chance to go after corrupt leaders
upon taking office. Instead, he tried, and failed, to enlist the aid
of the PRI to help pass his reform plans.
“Through the errors of his administration, Fox has paved the way
back to Los Pinos for the PRI,” said Meyer.
Source: El Universal
