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Mexican legislators' disruption defies Fox
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Candidate
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| Contributor | Ralphie |
| Last Edited | Ralphie Sep 02, 2006 09:07am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Seattle Times |
| News Date | Saturday, September 2, 2006 03:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | In a historic rebuke, opposition legislators seized control of Mexico's congressional chamber Friday and blocked President Vicente Fox from delivering his final State of the Nation address.
Fox, who was adorned in Mexico's green, red and white presidential sash, stood awkwardly in the chamber's foyer for nearly 10 minutes before conceding that he had no chance of entering. Surrounded by bodyguards, Fox was handed a microphone, quickly said that he would leave and gave a copy of his speech to a legislative official.
The legislators who commandeered Mexico's congressional building are aligned with the Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, and its candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is demanding a full recount of the July 2 presidential election results.
After giving up, Fox turned and left the building with his wife, Mexico's first lady, Martha Sahagun, who had donned an evening gown for the occasion. Fox smiled and nodded, while Sahagun chatted with the crowd that formed around them outside the building, which had been ringed by riot fencing and was guarded by 6,000 police officers. Then they disappeared into a waiting vehicle.
Fox later spoke directly to the nation in a televised speech from his office. He stressed his government's success bringing democracy and transparency to the country. He added that the actions of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, were not a personal affront.
"This attitude, contrary to democratic practices, does not represent an offense against myself, but rather against the presidential office and Mexican society," he said. |
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