In my last entry on Mexican Politics I mentioned that I wouldn't be expressing my personal opinions about any of the candidates in the Mexican Presidential elections this year. The reason for this is that the Mexican Constitution of 1917 forbids it.
"Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country." - Chapter III, Article 33
Now, the chances that someone who could enforce this would actually read my blog are next to none, but I respect the idea of this part of the Mexican constitution, so I will be acting as a reporter and not trying to influence anybody about Mexican political affairs. I also ask that those commenting on this blog refrain from expressing their opinion about Mexican politics, unless they are Mexican citizens.
This small part of the Constitution has become a important political issues this year.
In February former conservative prime minister of Spain, José María Aznar came to Mexico City to meet with PAN officials and publicly endorsed Felipe Calderón and warned the mexican electorate against AMLO. This was a pretty clear violation of Article 33, but so far, there has been no repercussion for either Aznar or the PAN. (Reference: Mexican Campaign Turns Dirty as López Obrador Stretches his Lead)
Recently the PAN has been running advertisements comparing AMLO to leftist president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. Chávez had a diplomatic spat with President Fox and was quoted as saying to Fox "not to mess with me or you will come out pricked with thorns." The PAN has been showing this Chávez quote in TV advertisements and then immediately showing video of AMLO telling Fox "Shut up, Mr. President, shut up, chachalaca." Chachalaca is a somewhat rare bird in Mexico that is known for squawking a lot. The ads are designed to associate Chávez and AMLO in the minds upper and middle class voters in the hopes they will vote for the conservative PAN candidate Calderón. These ads have been condemned by Chávez who said, "the Mexican right is using television spots . . . to try and stop the rise of the Mexican left and of its presidential candidate." This prompted the PAN to call for an investigation as to whether Chávez's comments violated Article 33. Also, the PAN has called for an investigation as to whether the Venezualan's governments gift of free eye surgery to the Mexican poor violates Article 33. Finally, the PAN has alleged that Chávez's government has been directly providing financial assistance to AMLO. No proof of this last charge has ever been presented in public. (References: Venezuelan aid offer sparks controversy in Mexico; Calderón calls for probe; Mexican president race gets negative)
Next time: Andrés Manuel López Obrador; a profile.
Posted by Noah Brimhall at April 10, 2006 11:54 AMVery interesting articles on Mexican elections. On a slightly different note, since you are living in Mexico, do you think what is happening in US in regards to illegal immigration is fueling any of the political debate. Also as an American (an assumption I am making) is there any increased tension for you or other American visitors due to the illegal immigration debates here?
Posted by: Julia Jenner at April 10, 2006 03:20 PMI haven't noticed much of a differnce betweent the presidential candidates. I think that this is one thing that they all pretty much agree on. The generally held belief in Mexico is that there needs to be some kind of general amnesty for illegal imigrants now living in the US and a fair and equitable guest worker program for those would like to work in the US. I think that you would hear from both AMLO and Madrazo that Fox (and by extension the PAN and Calderón) haven't done enough on this issue and that they would do more. This gives me a great idea for a future piece on Mexican politics, how is America affecting the 2006 election.
I am an American, but I haven't felt any increased tension because of the immigration debate in the states. I would guess that most mexicans are probably happy to see Americans on the street because of this issue.
Thanks for the response and the great questions!
Posted by: Noah Brimhall at April 10, 2006 04:16 PMHuerfana could comment, she's a native of Mexico ;-)
Posted by: sqdancer at April 13, 2006 02:05 PM