Reply #35: WAPO: Mexican leftists to disrupt Fox speech [View All]

[rumpel]

By Catherine Bremer
Reuters
Friday, September 1, 2006; 5:33 AM

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Vicente Fox faces a rough ride at his last state of the nation speech on Friday, with leftist lawmakers planning to hijack the ceremony to protest at what they say was election fraud.

Fox, hailed as a democracy hero in 2000 when he ended 71 years of one-party rule, steps down in December but political unrest over the July 2 election may cloud his legacy.

Legislators from Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, hope to prevent Fox from making the annual presidential address to Congress.

Aside from their allegations that vote counts were tampered with, leftists accuse Fox of illegally aiding conservative Felipe Calderon's campaign and funding his attacks on Lopez Obrador, who he called a danger to Mexico.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/01/AR2006090100190.html