Happy Cinco De Mayo!
The Economist optimistically reports that Mexico's political crisis is resolved:
AN ANCIENT Greek saying has it that the fox knows many small things, while the hedgehog knows but one big thing. In Mexican politics, however, it is President Vicente Fox who looks like the hedgehog. His contention that it was time for a change after seven decades of one-party rule took him to an historic election victory in 2000. Since then, he has shown little grasp of the many small things required for a successful presidency. That lack of subtlety showed in a blunt and controversial effort to block Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the leftist mayor of Mexico City, from standing in next year's presidential election through a prosecution widely seen as politically motivated.
On Wednesday May 4th, Mr Fox finally abandoned that effort. His new attorney general, Daniel Cabeza de Vaca, announced that the charges against Mr Lopez Obrador, which arise from a planning dispute, would be dropped, allowing him to stand for the presidency. Mr Fox and the mayor are to meet, presumably to bury the dispute.
It should say "Mexico's current political crisis resolved for now." Vicente Fox has been a big disappointment as president, both to Mexicans hoping for real reform in their country's political and economic structures and to Americans hoping for a friend south of the border. But as poor as his performance has been, if Obrador is elected in 2006, we may well be pining for the glory days of the Fox administration.
No comments:
Post a Comment